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The Auburn Tigers can be forgiven if they have a healthy chip on their shoulder. Picked to finish toward the middle of the SEC pack, the Tigers instead find themselves atop the national polls, playing February basketball as the big Kahuna of college basketball. It’s been a wild trip, but Auburn doesn’t intend to let the story end here.

Can the Tigers handle having a national target affixed to their collective backs? How heavy is the head that wears the crown?

What has worked

Bruce Pearl has taught a basketball masterclass in chemistry. Take a couple of beleaguered veterans from last year’s struggling squad, add probably the best freshman in the nation and a seemingly random group of veteran transfers. Stir and watch the results boil.

The transfers have kind of stolen the show, which is no small feat considering that standout freshman Jabari Smith (15.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game) gets compared to Kevin Durant on a nearly-daily basis. Georgia transfer KD Johnson (13.5 points and 2.1 steals per game) was tired of sub-par SEC hoops and is particularly gifted as a tough perimeter matchup on both ends of the floor. Eastern Kentucky mighty mite Wendell Green Jr. (12.9 points and 4.9 assists per game) has been the league’s best sixth man– if not the best in college basketball. And North Carolina big man Walker Kessler has been a difference-maker as a rim protector (11.4 points and 4.2 blocks per game).

Pearl’s Auburn teams have always been tough offensively, but this group is imposing its will defensively across the SEC.

What could work a bit better

They’re 22-1. Not much to say here. Since they rose to No. 1, Auburn has had a couple of ugly wins — a 1-point win at Mizzou and a 2-point win at Georgia. Auburn doesn’t have a particularly difficult conference schedule, which is a mixed blessing. The Tigers don’t stand to learn much more playing Vandy or Ole Miss.

Ugly wins could lull Auburn into a false sense of security. It’s one thing to manage to squeak past Mizzou or Georgia. But if the Tigers sleep on a mid-major opponent in the NCAA Tournament’s 2nd round, their dream season could get short in a hurry.

What’s to come

Let’s be serious: Auburn does not look like a team that’s going to be a quick out in the NCAA Tournament. They’re pretty much a universally projected No. 1 seed right now. A game at Tennessee is really the biggest one left on the schedule. Finishing 29-2 or 30-1 is completely realistic.

Can anybody knock off Auburn in the SEC Tournament? It’ll be tough. Kentucky was giving the Tigers a tough matchup until TyTy Washington twisted his ankle and Sahvir Wheeler got leveled by a Kessler screen. But that’s no guarantee that the Wildcats can hang with Auburn for 40 minutes. An SEC Tournament is never a sure thing, but Auburn will be about as big of a favorite as in recent memory.

As a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, Auburn’s ultimate trajectory will be dependent on taking care of business against lower seeds. No. 4 and No. 5 seeds are entirely vulnerable. Lunardi’s current projections have Illinois as the No. 4 in Auburn’s region, which could be a challenge. That bracket would then go on to have UCLA (No. 2) or Kansas (No. 3) emerging from the lower half of the region. Those teams are both capable of beating Auburn. But that said, neither has shown the lunch-pail mentality on defense of the Tigers.

Could Auburn win it all? Kessler could give Chet Holmgren and Gonzaga fits. Smith could lift Auburn over Baylor or Purdue. A quick check of future odds has Auburn ranging from around 8-1 to 12-1 to win the title. The Tigers aren’t the gamblers’ No. 1 pick to win the title, despite being the nation’s No. 1-ranked team. Go ahead and keep underestimating them. Bruce Pearl loves it. Can you predict a title now? If you could, predicting one for Auburn makes as much sense as predicting any other school.