Bruce Pearl with a shot at Kentucky before SEC title game?

For all of that talk about the meaning behind the SEC Tournament for John Calipari and the Kentucky basketball program, Bruce Pearl’s comments ahead of the title game seem like a pretty direct shot at the Cats.

Interviewed on ESPN ahead of Auburn’s matchup vs. Florida in Nashville, Pearl threw a jab at those who got bounced early and didn’t get an opportunity to celebrate on Broadway and inside Bridgestone Arena the rest of the weekend.

Kentucky, obviously, among that group that also includes Tennessee and Alabama.

“I know what being here means to our fans,” Pearl said. “They want to spend a weekend here in Nashville, we want to do this for them. We don’t want to go home on the first day.”

That comes after he celebrated his team’s win to advance to the championship game by calling on Auburn fans to officially turn the venue into The Jungle to close out the event — even if it means they had to miss church on Sunday morning.

“This has become the jungle. Our Auburn fans have turned this into the jungle,” he said. “So right now, if you’re listening at home: Get in your car, drive up to Nashville. There are plenty of tickets available. Kentucky’s not here, Tennessee’s not here. Get in the car!

“Go to church — actually, you can’t go to church. Come to Tennessee and go to church, then fill this place up.”

"This [Bridgestone Arena] has become the jungle!"

Bruce Pearl and Jaylin Williams give props to @AuburnMBB fans for showing up in Nashville 👏 pic.twitter.com/Qwr0QlM5zV

— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) March 16, 2024

His pitch worked. Bridgestone Arena is a madhouse right now as Auburn looks to officially punch its ticket as a conference champion here in Nashville.

He just couldn’t help but throw a little shade while doing so.

As you may recall, Coach Cal said after Kentucky’s win at Tennessee to close out the regular season his focus was on the NCAA Tournament, not what happens in the league tournament.

“You know the only tournament that matters to me,” he said. “After this weekend, that tournament.”

Following the one-and-done loss to Texas A&M, Calipari said he “felt for the fans” who “put everything into being here, all that.” Then he added that his team has “some stuff to figure out” ahead of the “real stuff” moving forward.

“This is an unbelievable group that I’m coaching,” he said. “All I told ’em is they got to stick together now. We’ve been on a run, it’s all been fun, you win. All of a sudden you get dinged and now the real stuff starts next week. We’ve got to be in the right frame of mind.”

A whole lot riding on this run.