SEC Tournament Championship Observations: Auburn 86, Florida 67
In the first 111 years of Auburn basketball, the Tigers won four SEC titles. In the last seven years, they've won four more.
(Justin Ferguson)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In the eyes of the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee, what happened Sunday afternoon in Nashville didn’t matter.
Winning the SEC Tournament in what was arguably the toughest season in the conference’s history didn’t change Auburn’s bracket fate. Beating a Quad 1 opponent by 19 points on a neutral floor to extend a winning streak to six games — the second-longest among power-conference teams — didn’t have any sway.
Auburn entered the weekend as a borderline No. 4 or No. 5 seed, depending on where you looked. Three wins over NCAA Tournament teams later, including a 19-point victory over Florida, the Tigers landed in the field as the third No. 4 seed.
To make things even tougher, an Auburn team that finished No. 4 overall in KenPom was drawn in the same region as top No. 1 seed and defending national champion UConn. Auburn is getting sent to the other side of the country for the first weekend. If the Tigers survive that, they’ll likely get the Huskies in nearby Boston.
What happened Sunday afternoon in Nashville didn’t matter to the committee. But what happened Sunday afternoon in Nashville mattered to so many more people.
It mattered to Johni Broome and Dylan Cardwell, the All-American transfer and the fourth-year role player who shared an on-court hug with two minutes left on the clock.
It mattered to Chad Baker-Mazara and Chris Moore, the well-traveled wing and the longtime “heart and soul” who did the same thing as the centers.
It mattered to Aden Holloway and Tre Donaldson, the young point guard duo who made a unique and potentially awkward situation work out better than expected.
It mattered to Denver Jones and K.D. Johnson, two very different shooting guards who transferred to Auburn in the hopes of winning championships.
It mattered to Jaylin Williams and Chaney Johnson, a record-breaking program mainstay and a newcomer who made the huge jump from the Division II level.
It mattered to Bruce Pearl, who talked about how much he missed his late father and how this was the closest team he’s coached in his increasingly legendary career.
It mattered to the coaching staff he’s often called “the best in America,” who each got to climb to the top of the ladder and cut an equal part of the nets.
It mattered to the thousands and thousands of Auburn fans who turned Bridgestone Arena — usually a venue dominated by Big Blue Nation and home state Vols fans this time of year — into a magnified version of Neville Arena. That impromptu home-court advantage was filled with noise, then confetti, then more noise.
Basketball can be an unfair game. The ball doesn’t always bounce the right way. Cold performances happen. Team-changing injuries can pop up from out of nowhere, as everyone was chillingly reminded of, again, in the early minutes of this title game.
And, sometimes, a tournament selection committee can send one of the highest-rated teams in the field into a region of death with a lower-than-the-analytics-would-suggest seed.
But Auburn isn’t going to Spokane empty-handed. One of the best teams in program history is going to raise a banner and get its championship rings.
You don’t always get what you deserve in this sport. These Tigers will, though.
And that will always matter.
Here are four Observations from Auburn’s 86-67 victory over Florida in the SEC Tournament final, along with the Rotation Charts, Nerd Stats and the Quote of the Day.