"Don't look ahead, and don't take anything for granted."
Auburn knows it can't ease up after a historic win at Alabama. Arkansas is much too talented — and much too desperate — for that.
(Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers)
AUBURN — Last Saturday, Auburn won the first-ever No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup in SEC men’s basketball history — a nine-point, nearly wire-to-wire victory over rival Alabama.
It was the biggest win in a season that is filling up with historic achievements. Auburn became the first SEC team in more than 30 years to win the Maui Invitational. They are rewriting their own record book with ranked wins, totaling six more Quad 1 victories than any other team in the country. As March approaches, the Tigers are on pace to set new high marks for the strongest résumé heading into the NCAA Tournament.
By beating Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Auburn returned to a solo first-place lead in the SEC — a conference that is shaping up to have the single-toughest league season in the sport’s modern era. Alabama, now one game back, has the league’s most grueling remaining schedule: six straight Quad 1 games, including four in the elite Quad 1-A category.
Meanwhile, Auburn is set to begin a rare stretch of three straight home games on Wednesday night. Both of the Tigers’ matchups this week are currently Quad 2 quality.
It’s a terrific position to be in, and it’s why both KenPom and T-Rank currently project 11-1 Auburn to win the SEC with a 16-2 record. KenPom has Florida, the only team that has beaten Auburn in league play, to finish in second at 14-4. T-Rank sees Alabama and Florida tying for second at 13-3.
But Bruce Pearl and his team don’t want to do any looking ahead. Pearl didn’t even want to talk about any possible benefit of playing three straight home games during final stretch of a championship race.
“Honestly, I can only see this game in front of us,” Pearl said Tuesday.
That game-by-game mentality has defined Auburn’s potentially record-breaking season. So, why change now?
Besides, Pearl told reporters at the end of the non-conference slate that he believed that the SEC was strong enough that Auburn could realistically lose any one of its nine home games.
And as he reiterated Tuesday, the Tigers are not that far off from a reality where they’ve already lost twice in front of The Jungle.
“Two out of our last three home games: Tennessee, we won that one on a buzzer, last possession kind of thing,” Pearl said. “We lost to Florida, like, pretty good.
“Don't look ahead, and don't take anything for granted. I'm just telling you. It's not a good idea.”
Don’t look ahead — and don’t look behind, while you’re at it.