Bruce Pearl flexes Auburn’s status as No. 1 team after beating Alabama

Bruce Pearl knows there was a debate over the true No. 1 team entering Saturday’s Alabama vs. Auburn matchup. Coming out of that game, he knows that debate is put to bed for the time being.

At one point in Saturday’s game, Auburn pushed its lead to 14 points in the 2nd half. But true to form, Nate Oats was able to get his Crimson Tide team to respond and eventually tied things up with around 7 minutes left to play.

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Instead of folding on the road, Auburn responded by pulling away for the 94-85 win. And after the win, Bruce Pearl made sure everyone knew his team is still No. 1:

“You walk into our locker room, there’s a sign that says: Make history. These kids are never going to forget this 1 vs. 2 matchup,” said Pearl on the court. “We played great from start to finish. We acted like we’re the No. 1 team, we prepared like we’re the No. 1 team, and we are the No. 1 team.”

While Auburn already held a whopping 13 Quad 1 wins entering Saturday, the Tigers had lost some of their hold on the No. 1 spot in the country after losing convincingly at home to Florida. The first-place votes in the AP Poll were split this week, and Alabama even overtook the No. 1 spot in the Coaches Poll as a result.

Now, Auburn will maintain its hold on the pole position for at least another week, and the Tigers are also now in sole position of the SEC lead at 11-1 in league play. Alabama falls to one game behind in the standings while Texas A&M (2 games behind) and Florida (2.5 games behind pending Saturday night’s results) are still within striking distance.

Paul Harvey

Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.