Bruce Pearl outburst at SEC Tournament captured on video
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Thursday was a tough day for the Pearl family as Auburn saw a double-digit second-half lead turn into a double-digit deficit in an SEC Tournament loss to Tennessee. While Steven Pearl is now the head coach, Bruce Pearl is still emotionally invested in the Tigers.
Bruce Pearl attended Thursday’s game in Nashville, and a video captured the former Auburn coach’s outburst during the game. While the brief video doesn’t establish who’s on the receiving end, Pearl was visibly upset. He’s heard saying, “That’s some bullsh-t.”
Bruce Pearl was NOT HAPPY with someone at today’s SEC tournament game with his son at the helm of the tigers.
— Random SEC (@therandomsec) March 12, 2026
“Thats bullsh**”
Who do you think it was? pic.twitter.com/yoF7AtwM5f
In his first season since stepping away from the Auburn job, Bruce Pearl works as an analyst for Turner Sports. Through his role, Pearl has become a prominent figure in the debate over whether Auburn deserves one of the final spots in the NCAA Tournament. Pearl made headlines for being vocally critical of a Miami (Ohio) team that went undefeated in the regular season, but did not play a schedule as difficult as others.
By being eliminated from the SEC Tournament, Auburn now sits at 17-16 overall and unable to further improve its NCAA Tournament case. The Tigers were on their way to an impressive victory over Tennessee, but suffered a collapse for the ages. AU led 51-41 at the 10:21 mark of the second half before the Vols scored the next 20 points. Auburn’s offense eventually started scoring again, but it wasn’t enough as Tennessee won 72-62.
ESPN’s Joe Lunardi is among the bracketologists who have Auburn on the wrong side of the bubble. Steven Pearl maintained that the Tigers should make the Big Dance despite the loss to Tennessee.
What will be Auburn’s fate? Kalshi is taking action on predictions!
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
