Bruce Pearl credits Auburn's nonconference schedule for SEC dominance

Auburn has been the team to beat in the SEC since league play began in January thanks to their strength of schedule. They played four ranked teams in non-conference action with their only loss coming to the Duke Blue Devils in December.

Going on to win 13 of their first 14 games to begin conference play, Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl is crediting the loaded front end of their regular season for preparing them against the rest of the SEC — a conference that could send up to 13 of its programs to the NCAA Tournament.

“It starts with the nonconference,” Pearl said during an appearance on Grind City Media. “It worked out this year that the great teams that we played in the nonconference were also having great seasons. Houston, Iowa State, Memphis. Those teams are all having great years, and we’ve been the beneficiary. We lost at Duke but on the road at Cameron in a close loss. That, obviously, doesn’t hurt you. Purdue, their numbers have been great even though they’ve lost some numbers down the stretch.

“That really carries us into the conference schedule. I would say that based on just the math, unless we fall apart here at the end of the season, and because of the quality of the teams that we’re playing right now — we almost have a better chance to be the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament than to necessarily win the SEC.”

Having Auburn fall apart at this point in the season, considering not only are they 13-1 against SEC competition — a conference projected to send 13 teams to the NCAA Tournament — but are also 23 games over .500 heading into the final game of Feburary, is unlikely.

Although, the final stretch of regular season action isn’t going to be a cake walk for the Tigers.

Auburn will match up against three ranked opponents in No. 17 Kentucky, No. 12 Texas A&M and No. 6 Alabama to round out its regular season. Before that, they’re set to host Ole Miss on Wednesday night. Tip-off for their next outing is set for 7 p.m. ET live on ESPN2.

“Lots of work to do,” Pearl said of the path ahead of him. “What has carried us through this league is, one, we defend and rebound every night. Two, we have a bunch of nobody’s from nowhere, including their head coach. Okay? We’ve got a chip on our shoulders. … I have one five-star on my roster and that’s Tahaad Pettiford, the very talented, wonderful freshman.

“The rest of the guys come from mid-major programs with something to prove. That’s why we don’t take any opponent for granted.”