Steven Pearl reacts to Auburn’s NIT championship, talks ‘momentum’ entering next season
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It’s no secret that the Auburn Tigers feel they should have been an NCAA Tournament team. It would have been unprecedented for a team with their record (17-16) to earn an at-large bid.
They felt their difficult schedule — which included non-conference games versus Michigan, Arizona, St. John’s and Purdue — should have compensated for the underwhelming mark.
When they didn’t win their case with the NCAA Tournament committee, the Tigers didn’t hang their heads. Instead, they went out on a mission to prove that they belonged. They accomplished their task on Sunday, defeating Tulsa 92-86 (OT) to win the NIT. Afterward, head coach Steven Pearl spoke on the NIT title serving as a springboard for the 2026-27 campaign.
“You’ve got to use it as positive momentum going into the offseason,” Pearl said. “I feel like the guys that we want to have return are obviously in a better place mentally. You know, seeing what it’s capable of looking like.”
Auburn, by necessity, played a lot of small ball this season, routinely using Filip Jovic and Sebastian Williams-Adams (both 6-foot-8) as centers. Pearl believes getting them back to their respective positions — something he can do following the addition of Narcisse Ngoy — will enable the Tigers to be more successful next year. But he also knows he needs to add more talent to truly raise their ceiling.
“Being able to find pieces that can encourage the rest of these guys to come back and continue to finish the job, I think is important,” he said.
Nebraska ripped off 20 consecutive wins to start the 2025-26 season after winning the College Basketball Crown last year. If Auburn can replicate the Cornhuskers’ feat, they’d feel all their claims this year were justified and have the last laugh after missing this year’s Big Dance.
