This SEC Tournament matters to Auburn
It might not affect what happens on Selection Sunday. But the Tigers are still hungry for another championship — especially after last week.
(Zach Bland/Auburn Tigers)
AUBURN — Three months ago, Johni Broome’s shoulder popped out during a blowout home win over Georgia State.
Almost instantly, there were plenty of calls for Auburn to be cautious with Broome. Auburn had a game a few days later against Purdue, yes, but there was a longer Christmas break between that matchup and a non-conference finale with Monmouth.
But Broome took the floor in Birmingham four days after that shoulder injury. He had 23 points and 11 rebounds in the Tigers’ comfortable rout of the Boilermakers.
“I have no idea how he played against Purdue,” Bruce Pearl said Wednesday, looking back. “I don't. How do you, literally, two days after that injury, put a harness on and go out there and play?”
Broome’s quick return against Purdue was a microcosm of his newly crowned Sporting News National Player of the Year campaign and Auburn’s outright championship in the toughest edition of the SEC — if not any major conference — ever.
It’s how Broome went from a rough-looking ankle sprain against South Carolina to helping Auburn beat Tennessee in a thriller two weeks later.
It’s how Chad Baker-Mazara battled through several upper-body injuries to provide winning plays in key games.
It’s how Denver Jones came back from a foot injury against Kentucky to play lockdown defense in a finale against Alabama that didn’t matter in the standings.
Auburn’s championship season, which could end up being the single-best campaign in the history of the program, was built on embracing the grind and being the best over the course of a brutal gauntlet.
That brings us to this week, as Auburn heads to Nashville for the 2025 SEC Tournament.
What happens in major conference tournaments rarely impacts anything in the NCAA Tournament field. Auburn is still in the driver’s seat to be the No. 1 overall seed on Selection Sunday, and it’s tough to see anything Duke can do in a weaker-than-usual ACC Tournament making up that difference.
Auburn already has an outright championship to its name. There might not be a way for it to fall out of the best possible spot in March Madness, considering how impressive its Quad 1 win-heavy tournament resume is compared to the rest.
That has prompted some chatter from those outside the program: Does Auburn really care about the SEC Tournament?
Should Auburn really care about the SEC Tournament? (John Calipari doesn’t, and he’s won a bunch of them.)
Wouldn’t it be smarter to take it easy, manage minutes and focus on getting to the NCAA Tournament?
Respectfully, if you’re asking those questions, you don’t truly know this Auburn team.