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Paul Finebaum expects Auburn to be in ‘desperate mode’ throughout SEC Tournament
By Paul Harvey
Published:
Paul Finebaum understands there is not much that can be said to take away from a dominant and historical regular season for Auburn. However, he does expect the Tigers to come out with some frustrations and desperation after a rough end to the season.
Bruce Pearl’s squad captured the outright SEC title this season, and it’s a particularly special season to claim that championship. The SEC is at an all-time level this year, and the Tigers were the cream of the crop while leading the nation with an astounding 16 Quad 1 wins.
However, the shine of that regular season came off a bit this past week as Auburn dropped the final 2 games to Texas A&M and then to Alabama in the season finale. The Tigers will now rest until Friday as the No. 1 seed in Nashville, and Finebaum predicts that team will come out and play well for Pearl in their SEC Tournament opener, regardless of the opponent.
“I am really interested to see how (Auburn) approaches Nashville. My gut is Bruce Pearl wants to go through the experience. I don’t think he wants to lose again because you certainly don’t want to limp into the NCAA Tournament with 3 straight losses having any expectation of being the No. 1 seed,” explained Finebaum on “McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning.” “I look for them to play really well on Friday.”
While the Tigers have back-to-back losses entering Nashville, they still headline the best odds to win the league tournament at bet365. Florida, Alabama and Tennessee are the other programs given a realistic shot to win the tournament.
Finebaum went on to describe that he is still expecting a deep run out of Auburn in March Madness, but it will be a bit of desperation from the team before the Big Dance:
“I think they’re in a little bit of a desperate mode just to change the narrative, but I still feel great about them,” Finebaum clarified. “In spite of what we just got through watching last week, I still think they’re the best team in the country. I think Johni Broome is the best player and I fully expect them to make a long, long run into the NCAA Tournament, very likely the Final Four and maybe Monday night (in the title game).”
Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.
