Fresh off Selection Sunday, Auburn associate head basketball coach Steven Pearl voiced his frustration with his team only getting a No. 4 seed in the NCAA Tournament after winning the SEC Tournament.
Pearl argued that the low seeding means winning the conference championship "doesn't mean a damn thing" and called it "a joke."
RELATED: Auburn earns No. 4 seed in NCAA Tournament
"The SEC Tournament doesn't mean a damn thing if you can win three straight games and win the SEC Championship and be a 4-seed. It's a joke." - Steven Pearl on Auburn being sent to Spokane, Washington for the NCAA Tournament. @MyBookie pic.twitter.com/lwQvAQpeZI
— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) March 17, 2024
“The SEC Tournament doesn’t mean a damn thing if you can win three straight games and win the SEC championship and be a four seed,” Pearl told "The Next Round. “It’s a joke, honestly.”
“They made their mind up before we got into the SEC Tournament,” Pearl said of the committee. “So, it makes it really hard for us as coaches to, you know, find a way to tell our guys ... obviously it’s amazing to have a championship, but it doesn’t do anything for our team to show up and win three games in three days if we’re not going to be rewarded for it. We get shipped out to Spokane, Washington, and have to play in that game.”
Auburn is set to face off with Yale on Friday in the first round.
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