How much could this NIT run mean for Auburn basketball's future?

The Tigers accepted an increasingly unpopular invitation because they saw value. Now they're playing for an NIT title with a young team.

(Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers)

INDIANAPOLIS — Three weeks ago, a lot of people were wondering what Auburn basketball was doing.

Auburn was the second team out of the NCAA Tournament field, with a 3-9 slide heading into Selection Sunday proving to be too much for the committee to overlook. A streak of four straight bids was over, and it was a bitter blow for a program that was the No. 1 overall seed and a Final Four team just one year earlier.

To some, accepting an invitation to the consolation tournament known as the NIT felt like all risk and little reward. Lose to a mid-major at home, and your rough stretch to end the season will look even worse in hindsight.

And how valuable would winning be, anyway? There is a shrinking number of high-major teams who even agree to play in the NIT, and you wouldn’t see any of them until the semifinals at the earliest. Beating smaller schools wouldn’t make up for the past.

But Steven Pearl and his team decided to play anyway. It wasn’t an easy call, judging by the brutal opening 15 minutes in the first round against South Alabama and the abrupt opt-out of senior center KeShawn Murphy.

“I’m here to coach basketball, and these guys are here to play,” Pearl said Friday. “While it was a difficult decision, I really hope that the decision we made to play in this tournament will show teams that are in our position moving forward that this is a great opportunity to really change the narrative of your season.”

The four straight victories for Auburn in the NIT have truly been more about improving vibes than making statements. Auburn was favored in all three of its home wins over South Alabama, Seattle U and Nevada.

That was the case heading into what would turn out to be a 22-point semifinal win over Illinois State at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Thursday night, and it will be the case heading into an NIT championship game against 30-win Tulsa on Sunday night.

“We’re trying to be one of the few teams that ends the season with a win and go out strong,” point guard Tahaad Pettiford said Friday. “Doesn't matter if we are playing in the NIT Championship or March Madness. We are here to win it all, so that's the goal.”

No reasonable person is going to look at Auburn beating four consecutive opponents outside of the top 70 in KenPom and suddenly think that this team should have been in the NCAA Tournament after all. The Tigers had their chances and let them slip away.

But, at a time when so many high-major teams in this position would either pack it in or not even participate, Auburn has performed like a team that wanted to keep playing.

“People are going to sit here and look at us and go, ‘They are going to lay an egg. They are not going to be excited about playing,’” Pearl said. “What a tremendous opportunity to come out here and change that narrative and prove people wrong.

“Regardless of the stage, regardless of the tournament, I’m out here to hoop, and I’m out here to have fun — that’s what these guys have done.”

And, depending on what the next several weeks hold in the area of roster management, it’s a decision that could help Auburn avoid the NIT and get back to where it belongs year in and year out.