The Auburn Tigers ended the regular season on a high note with hard-fought victories over in-state rival Alabama and taking down No. 5 Tennessee in the finale. The pair of wins gave the Tigers an 11-7 finish the SEC and earned them a bye in the upcoming SEC Tournament.
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This is a remarkable finish considering where the Tigers were a month ago with a below .500 record in league play, which was behind the Crimson Tide in the standings. Auburn did claw its way back, but was this a successful season for a team which was supposed to win the SEC again?
Instead of battling for a conference title, the Tigers struggled for most of the season. And until last Saturday's win over the Volunteers, they didn't really have a big win to hang their hats on. They lost to Kentucky twice and even were down against Alabama in the second half.
"Can't thank our fan base and our students enough. They were treated to something special. I'm very grateful for the support. We don't win without the building being like it is." - @coachbrucepearl
📰 » https://t.co/FpKA8BF9bg#WarEagle x #UnfinishedBusiness pic.twitter.com/UxobAFuKTO
— Auburn Basketball (@AuburnMBB) March 9, 2019
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Yes, Auburn does have 21 wins and will make the NCAA tournament, but is that enough to please some fans who thought they would see more out of their beloved Tigers?
Most seem satisfied now that the Tigers finally have a victory over a top-10 team, but this team should have won more than 21 games with the talent they have and finished better than fourth place in the SEC.
Now, you can blame that on injuries because big man Austin Wiley was hurt most of the season or blame on it on a tough SEC, which is projected to maybe have as many as seven teams in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
But something has been missing from Auburn most of the season and really, until Saturday, this was the first time we have seen the real Auburn Tigers, the team that was expected to compete for the SEC to show up in a game.
It will be interesting to see which Auburn team shows up for the SEC Tournament. Will it be the one that beat Tennessee last weekend or the one that we have seen all season?
