Jay Williams: Auburn has a 'legit' chance to reach Final 4

ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Williams is a big believer in this Auburn basketball team. The Tigers are 13-2 (2-0) entering Saturday night’s game against LSU and have won eight consecutive games.

Williams believes the way Auburn is playing at the moment it has a real shot to reach the Final 4 this season. He added that this is the most dangerous team in college basketball outside of the top 5.

“Whenever I hear people talk about teams in the SEC, I hear people lead with Kentucky and what their ceiling is. I hear people talk about Tennessee and what Rick Barnes has been able to accomplish. But we don’t talk about the fighting Bruce Pearls enough,” Jay Williams said Saturday morning on ESPN College GameDay.

“I feel like Auburn is a team that has a legit chance to get to a Final 4. They run 12 deep at you consistently. I mean they wear you down.”

Auburn lost to Appalachian State on Dec. 3 but has now been more than a month without a defeat. The only other game Auburn dropped was to Baylor in the season opener in a close game.

Along the way, Auburn has earned wins over Virginia Tech, Indiana, Arkansas and plenty of others.

“I go back to December 3rd when they played at App. State, a lot of people questioned, ‘Why are you having a true nonconference road game against App. State?’ Now they lost that game. I think it was a punch in the mouth for them. They played in that altitude,” Jay Williams said. “Since then, they have won eight straight. They smacked Arkansas.”

Auburn beat the Razorbacks 83-51 on the road last Saturday in what was an incredibly impressive performance.

The Tigers are talented and deep, which should pay off as the season goes along. Auburn has 10 players averaging double digit minutes.

Johni Broome leads the way with an average of 15.3 points and 8.5 rebounds in only 23.5 minutes of action per game.

“The way they play, Johni Broome, Aden Holloway, Jaylin Williams… [Dylan] Cardwell, they have size down low,” Williams said. “I love the way that this team plays, and they really impose their style.”

Auburn is currently ranked No. 16 in the AP Poll entering Saturday’s game against LSU and No. 7 in the NET. The Tigers have a chance to continue to move up in both rankings in the coming weeks, and ESPN College GameDay could be in town soon if the Tigers keep winning, according to Rece Davis.