Jay Bilas responds to Andraya Carter's concern on Auburn's ceiling

Auburn is the unanimous No. 1 team in the AP Poll this week after beating Georgia last weekend for its 10th consecutive victory. The Tigers are now 17-1 (5-0) on the year heading into Saturday night’s showdown with Tennessee.

Despite Auburn being the unanimous No. 1 team in the country, ESPN college basketball analyst Andraya Carter has some concerns about the Tigers’ ceiling. According to Carter, Auburn is unlikely to get much better the rest of the way because the Tigers have a veteran club with a lot of returning pieces.

She feels like there are other teams — Duke and Houston in particular — who still have a lot of room for growth.

“I also wonder… when we talk about teams having a high ceiling, is Auburn already close to their ceiling? How much better is this Auburn team going to get,” Andraya Carter said Saturday on ESPN College GameDay. “Duke is a young team that should get a lot better. … When I think about a Houston team,  Milos Uzan is their point guard. He transferred in. He was soft to start the season. He’s going to continue to get better.

“I see Houston as a team that’s going to get better as the season goes on and make a push for that national championship.”

Fellow ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas understands Carter’s point. However, he argued that Auburn is so far ahead of everyone else in the country, particularly offensively, that even if others start making up ground, Auburn will still be better.

“You make a fair point about the ceiling, but the problem is, Auburn’s ceiling is so darn high, other teams might not be able to reach it,” Bilas said. “Like their offensive efficiency is the best we’ve seen in the last 25 years through 18-19 games. The best in 25 years. I mean as long as Johni Broome is healthy, they’re scary. Those guards can really shoot it.”

Speaking of Johni Broome, he has missed the past two games after suffering an ankle injury on Jan. 11 against South Carolina. However, Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said Saturday on College GameDay that there is a chance Broome will be able to return against Tennessee.

“I think so. I think there’s a chance. Listen, he’s going to warm up. You know, you guys were at practice yesterday. He went yesterday, but he didn’t really push it,” Bruce Pearl said. “He wants to play. But if in warm ups he doesn’t feel good about it he’s not going to play.

“But I’m guessing, with you guys here, with these [fans] here, Johni Broome is going to take [the court]. That’s my guess.”