Steven Pearl wasn’t going to let the disappointment of Sunday spill into Monday, or even later Sunday night.
Yes, Auburn‘s 17-16 record that it lugged into Selection Sunday ultimately wasn’t good enough, even with that brutally tough schedule included, to get the Tigers into the NCAA Tournament. Auburn fell just short of making the 68-team field, finishing as one of the “First Four Out” along with SEC rival Oklahoma.
It wasn’t a memorable Selection Sunday on the Plains, to say the least, but the old saying that goes something like, “when one door closes another door opens” was never more appropriate for Auburn’s plight. And later Sunday night, after that NCAA Tournament disappointment had been fully digested, Pearl and the Tigers accepted a bid to the NIT.
It’s a consolation prize, to be sure, but it’s also another opportunity for the 2025-26 Auburn Tigers to play basketball, and Pearl wasn’t going to let that slip away, too. Auburn is embracing its NIT reality, and Pearl spoke to reporters on Monday to explain exactly why.
“I’m here to coach basketball. The guys on my roster are here to play basketball,” Pearl said. “We’re all here to compete. … I just see it as an unbelievable opportunity for our guys to go out there and just compete on a stage.”
That stage will come quickly, on Tuesday night at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN2, when Auburn hosts in-state Sun Belt foe South Alabama (21-11) in a first-round NIT game. It’ll be a 9 p.m. local start at Neville Arena on St. Patrick’s Day night, and it’ll be a chance for Pearl’s team to showcase itself on national TV after that NCAA disappointment.
With Auburn missing out on the NCAA Tournament, here is how the Kalshi market currently sees the Tigers’ first-round NIT matchup against South Alabama:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
