The narrative is an obvious one. That is, that the SEC is still just a football conference.

Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl isn’t sold on the belief that basketball is very far behind.

On Friday, Pearl went on “The Dan Patrick Show” live in San Antonio for the Final Four and talked about the increasing similarities between the conference’s two revenue-driven sports.

“We always apologize for SEC basketball,” Pearl said on the Dan Patrick Show. “What makes SEC football what it is? It’s speed, it’s athleticism, it’s quickness, it’s the defensive linemen. When the SEC lines up in football, everybody’s afraid of that.

“Well, the same thing is true in basketball. We’re a very athletic league. Our teams play great defense.”

It was Pearl’s team who of course stunned the SEC and earned a share of the regular season conference title. Auburn and Tennessee, both of which are classified as “football schools,” shared the regular season conference title despite the fact that both were expected to finish in the bottom half of the conference.

Auburn and Tennessee were 2 of 8 SEC teams which made the NCAA Tournament, even though none made it past the Sweet 16. Still, Pearl believed that with the SEC setting a conference record for teams in the NCAA Tournament, it made a loud statement to the college basketball world.

“We had 8 teams in the NCAA Tournament this year so I do think SEC basketball is back,” Pearl said. “And (South Carolina coach) Frank Martin helped get it started last year by taking his team to the Final Four.”

Here was Pearl’s entire interview on “The Dan Patrick Show:”