Resume building: Snapshot of Auburn basketball's current standing as SEC play ramps up

It's January, college bowl games are wrapping up, non-conference basketball schedules are finished and conference play is beginning. If it wasn't before, it's officially basketball season. And for Auburn, their first road conference game awaits on Wednesday night in Athens, Ga. against new Georgia coach Mike White. It's been a bit of an up-and-down beginning to the Tigers' season, but through some of those ups and downs, they're still 11-2 overall and 1-0 on league play. Not bad, but Pearl knows what's coming. "The league is going to be a rock fight, it is," he said after Auburn's comeback win over Florida. And he's right. Eight SEC teams are currently inside the top 61 of the NCAA's NET rankings, and 11 are inside the top 99. There will be no easy games and no easy wins for this Auburn team, not this year, and not in this league. Each Monday, we'll take a look at Auburn's resume as Pearl's squad fights for their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last six seasons, and would be fifth appearance in the last six years, if not for the COVID-shortened season.