"We're panicked": Auburn HC Bruce Pearl drops blunt reaction to Tigers' recent losses ahead of Selection Sunday

The Auburn Tigers, coached by Bruce Pearl, were recently eliminated from their conference's postseason even after being the top seed. Earlier on Saturday, March 15, the consensus No. 1-ranked team in the country and in the SEC was trounced out of the conference tournament after a disappointing five-point loss, 70-65, against the fourth-seeded Tennessee Volunteers.

Unfortunately for Johni Broome and Co., they won't be able to make out a conference tournament championship repeat as they won it last year. This is a disheartening loss for Auburn, to say the least, as they have been nationally ranked as the top squad in the nation for a chunk of the 2024-2025 season and even won this year's conference regular season championship.

Auburn's loss to Tennessee in the SEC tournament semifinals was their third in the last four games, including two losses in their final regular season games. The Tigers are now focusing on the national championship with March Madness rolling in. This is what Pearl looked to in the post-game press conference of their loss.

"Man, I'm really glad you asked me that question. We lost to Alabama, Tennessee and at Texas A&M. Yeah, we're panicked. That's a real soft ball. We lost to some great teams. We lost the buzzer against Alabama, we had possessions here so, yeah, we're panicked. I can't hardly wait to next weekend and start playing again," he said. (0:05)

"Let's get to Sunday. Let's find out where we're going, let's find out who we're playing. Let's get back to work, looking forward, not back," Pearl added.

The NCAA national tournament Selection Sunday is slated for March 16, where coverage on CBS and streams on Paramount+ will begin at 6:00 p.m. ET. The start of the men's side of March Madness is scheduled for Tuesday, March 18.

The Auburn Tigers' losing skid started after they rejoiced with not being hailed as regular season co-champions

The Auburn Tigers' current losing skid, coincidentally, came after their social media team posted them on X (formerly Twitter) celebrating and rejoicing on the Tennessee Volunteers defeating the fifth-seeded Alabama Crimson Tide on March 1 by a buzzer-beating three-pointer, 79-76.

Auburn’s reaction stemmed from the fact that if Alabama had won, the Tigers would have been forced to share the 2025 SEC regular season championship with them. This explains why Johni Broome and Co. were shouting "Rocky Top" and "We ain't sharing" throughout the clip, as they lost to Tennessee a week after.