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Auburn: 2026 National Invitation Tournament Champions

Auburn may have missed out on the NCAA tournament, but the Tigers still ended the first season of the Steve Pearl era with a win.

Long before he first arrived at Auburn as the school’s new basketball coach in 2014, Bruce Pearl was known for showcasing his emotions, whatever they may be in a given moment.

As the Tigers wrapped up an SEC Tournament championship Sunday, Pearl had no trouble showing exactly how he was feeling. In the waning seconds of Auburn’s 86-67 victory against Florida in the conference title game at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, ESPN camera crews cut to a visibly emotional Pearl standing on the sideline.

When asked by ESPN’s Marty Smith after the game why he was tearing up, Pearl discussed the extra meaning the accomplishment carried following the death of his father, Bernie, last August at the age of 88. Pearl described his late father as “my biggest fan.”

“How about the way Auburn showed up today?” Pearl said. “For me, I’ve got to thank my father. I’m just happy for the players. We played great. Florida’s a terrific opponent. That’s why I’m so emotional. I wish he was here.”

Bernie Pearl’s connection to the Auburn program was strong. Despite being born and raised in Boston, Bruce Pearl said his father asked him if he thought Auburn fans would be bothered if he were buried in a Tigers jersey even though he never went to school there.

"He was a loyal guy,” Pearl said in an interview with Auburn’s athletics website following his father’s passing in August. “He was grateful to Auburn for giving our whole family the opportunity to lead this basketball program. He watched or listened to every single game."

The SEC Tournament title is just the third in program history for Auburn, which also claimed the honor in 2019 before making a run to its first-ever Final Four. The victory improved the Tigers’ record to 27-7 overall, giving them the fourth-most wins in a season in Auburn history. Five of the Tigers’ six winningest seasons ever came under Pearl.

As he soaked in the achievement, those numbers meant little to Pearl. He was thinking about not only his players, but his father and the lessons that he passed down to him.

“He worked hard,” Pearl said. “My dad worked six days a week. He prayed on the seventh. We didn’t have a lot, but we had enough. I thought my dad was the best. I wish every kid had that. That’s one of the reasons why I’m hard on these guys. My dad held me to a high standard and I hold these guys to a high standard.”

Auburn: 2018-19 Southeastern Men's Basketball Champions

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Auburn Tigers are taking home their first Southeastern Conference Tournament championship since 1985 and aren't satisfied.

Not with the NCAA Tournament up next.

Bryce Brown scored 19 points, and Auburn won the SEC Tournament title by routing eighth-ranked Tennessee 84-64 on Sunday.

"We still have a lot more to prove, a lot more to accomplish as a team," said Brown, a senior guard who hadn't won an SEC Tournament game before this week.

No. 22 Auburn (26-9) hadn't even played for the title since 2000, and the fifth-seeded Tigers won their fourth game in as many days to capture only the second SEC Tournament championship in program history. The Tigers now have won eight straight and 10 of their last 11 heading into the NCAA Tournament.

Better yet, Auburn and coach Bruce Pearl have become the nemesis to his old program, beating Tennessee three straight times. Auburn ruined Tennessee's hopes of winning back-to-back SEC regular-season titles for the first time with an 84-80 win to wrap up the season a week ago, and the Tigers also are the last team to beat Tennessee in Knoxville.

Now Pearl has his first SEC Tournament title at the expense of the first team he coached in the league.

"I get no greater pleasure in beating Tennessee for this SEC championship because I spent so many wonderful years as a Tennessee Vol," Pearl said. "Got great respect for their fans and program, their tradition in basketball."

On the court, Pearl thanked SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey for forgiving him and letting him return to the league as a coach. Pearl was still under an NCAA show cause penalty when Auburn hired him in 2014 for violations committed when he was at Tennessee. He was fired in 2011 for lying to NCAA investigators about a cookout he held for recruits.

"I hope the SEC's better with me in it," Pearl said.

Tennessee (29-5) likely cost itself any chance at the program's first-ever No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Vols will have to win their first-round game to reach 30 victories for only the second time in school history.

"Now it's time to play for the big one," Tennessee senior Admiral Schofield said after being held to a season-low four points.

Chuma Okeke scored 18 points and had 13 rebounds for Auburn, and Danjel Purifoy added 10. Junior guard Jared Harper, Auburn's second-leading scorer, went 1 for 11 and had nine points.

Lamonte' Turner led Tennessee with 24 points. Grant Williams, the two-time SEC player of the year, was held to 13. Jordan Bone had 11 and Jordan Bowden scored 10.

Tennessee struggled to bounce back after an emotional win over No. 4 Kentucky in the semifinals. Coach Rick Barnes said he told his assistants the Vols looked a little drained at the start.

"We just came out with no energy," Williams said. "We came out like we expected things to happen. It's hard to bounce back from that, especially how Auburn plays, how explosive they can be, especially when they start making shots."

The Tigers also became only the third team this season to lead Tennessee by double digits. Tennessee led 17-13 with 11:09 left on a pull-up jumper by Jordan Bowden. Then the Vols went cold, making only two buckets the rest of the half.

Auburn heated up with the Tigers' defense helping them turn the Vols over and over. The Tigers scored 16 straight points in a run that featured a pair of 3s from Brown. A free throw by Horace Spencer capped the spurt with 3:58 left and a 31-18 advantage. Auburn led 32-23 at halftime.

The team that just set the SEC record for 3s made in a season hit 6 of 12 outside the arc to push that lead further. By the time Austin Wiley finished off a three-point play with 11:22 to go, the Tigers led 56-34.

BIG PICTURE

Auburn: The Tigers get so much attention for how they shoot 3s, but they also are fifth in the nation in steals per game. They came up with 14 steals in forcing 17 turnovers and had a 21-11 scoring edge off turnovers. ... The Tigers also got the most minutes yet from Wiley, coming off an injured lower right leg. He missed five games, including the Tigers' tournament-opening win over Missouri.

Tennessee: The Vols had not lost a rematch in the regular season, going 5-0 in such games in each of the past two seasons. This game came a week after the Vols lost at Auburn. The Vols' drought without a SEC tourney title, last won in 1979, will stretch to at least 41 years.

BROWN'S BACK

Brown had struggled in the first half of games at this tournament and said after Auburn's win over Florida in the semifinals that he knew he would have to start faster in the championship game. The senior guard did just that. He was 4-of-8 shooting with 11 points, and Auburn needed his production with Harper limited to two minutes in the first half because of foul trouble.

QUOTABLE

"The fact is we weren't very good," Barnes said.

UP NEXT

Auburn is cruising into its second straight NCAA Tournament.

Tennessee makes its second straight NCAA Tournament.

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Auburn: 2018 Music City Bowl Champions

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Jarrett Stidham threw for 373 yards and five touchdowns in his final college game, and Auburn routed Purdue 63-14 in the Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl on Friday.

Auburn raced out to a 56-7 halftime lead, scoring TDs on its first eight possessions -- spanning only 11 minutes -- to set a record for points in any half of any bowl game, according to ESPN Stats & Information.

The Tigers also tied Music City Bowl records for most points and TDs -- set by West Virginia in 2000 -- with 5:36 left in the first half.

The 56 points by halftime were the most scored in any half in program history.

Auburn (8-5) rolled in the finale of a season in which it opened with a top-10 ranking, stumbled a bit in the middle and concluded with a record-setting performance. It was the Tigers' first postseason victory since beating Memphis in the 2015 Birmingham Bowl.

Auburn scored the most points by a Southeastern Conference team in a bowl, topping Alabama's 61-6 win over Syracuse in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 1, 1953. The Tigers had a chance to match the most points ever scored in a bowl (70), most recently reached by Army in the Armed Forces Bowl last week, but they took a knee at the Purdue 1-yard line with 61 seconds left.

"We've had some ups and downs this year,'' Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said, crediting his seniors for keeping the Tigers together. "This was a big win for us.''

Stidham, a junior who already has declared his intention to leave school early for the NFL draft, got the Tigers off to a fast start, and they just poured it on from there.

"We just tried to make those explosive plays that we've needed all year,'' Stidham said.

Purdue (6-7) dropped three of its last four games in its second season under coach Jeff Brohm.

"That one snowballed faster than most,'' Brohm said. "I've been part of games that were a bad outcome, but that one happened fast. Credit to them, they made their breaks. Every little thing that went wrong seemed like it could. We got behind the eight-ball early.''

Auburn started the game with the ball and needed only 63 seconds to set the tone, with Stidham finding JaTarvious Whitlow for a 66-yard TD pass. Whitlow also added a pair of short TD runs as Auburn led 28-7 at the end of the first quarter.

"I mean, it was a thing of beauty to watch from the sideline to watch the guys make plays,'' Malzahn said. "When we make explosive plays and we play fast, we're a pretty good offense, and today it all came together. I really believe that will carry over to next season.''

The Tigers outgained Purdue 586-263 in total offense and had only one three-and-out late in the third quarter. Purdue was intercepted twice and turned it over on downs twice. Auburn punted once all game.

Darius Slayton set a bowl record with three TD catches of 74, 52 and 34 yards. Javaris Davis had a sack and an interception in the first quarter for Auburn, and Big Kat Bryant returned an interception 20 yards for a TD and a 45-7 lead with 12:29 left in the first half.

THE TAKEAWAY

Purdue: With defensive tackle Lorenzo Neal out after tearing an ACL in the regular-season finale against Indiana, the Boilermakers had few answers for anything Auburn tried on offense.

Auburn: It sure looks as if coach Malzahn made the right decision when he took back the playcalling duties he handled his first three seasons at Auburn.

UP NEXT

Purdue: Brohm has a handful of key seniors to replace, including quarterback David Blough and his top two running backs in D.J. Knox and Markell Jones.

Auburn: The search for Stidham's replacement begins with sophomore Malik Willis getting the first look once Malzahn finally pulled his starting quarterback with 1:33 left. Joey Gatewood also played late in the game, driving the Tigers to the 1 before taking a knee.

Auburn Tigers: 2015 Birmingham Bowl Champions

BIRMINGHAM – Memphis safety Reggis Ball has been removed from the football team following a post-game incident that involved the Auburn equipment staff.

According to multiple local reports, Ball attempted to steal a football from the Auburn equipment staff following Auburn’s 31-10 victory in the Birmingham Bowl Wednesday. Ball was reportedly stopped by multiple Auburn equipment employees and a physical altercation took place.

“I want to personally apologize to Jay Jacobs, Gus Malzahn, the Auburn Football team, its fans and the Birmingham Bowl for the highly-inappropriate actions of one of my student-athletes regarding a game ball at the end of Wednesday’s game,” Memphis athletics director Tom Bowen said in a university statement. “This player’s actions are totally unacceptable. He has been immediately removed from the team and we will continue to move swiftly in addressing what occurred."

Ball had a 53-yard interception return for a touchdown to tie the score at 10 with 3:06 left in the second quarter. Ball had two interceptions and one tackle for a loss Wednesday.

After Ball escaped with the football, the redshirt senior reportedly flipped his middle finger to the crowd and Auburn players as he left the field. Even though Ball’s college career is over at the Birmingham Bowl, his removal from the football program restricts him from using the athletic facilities at all and makes him ineligible to participate in the school’s Pro Day in the future months.

“We’re embarrassed about the actions that occurred after the game and that is definitely not the standards or expectations the Memphis football program stands for,” Memphis new head coach Mike Norvell said. “Even though Mr. Ball’s football career has ended, he will no longer be a part of the Memphis program because of these actions.”

In the post-game media conference, Memphis interim head coach Darrell Dickey said he was still gathering the facts about the situation but hours later Memphis officials informed the media of Ball’s dismissal.

“I consulted with University of Memphis President M. David Rudd and have spoken to both incoming head coach Mike Norvell and interim head coach Darrell Dickey and they completely support my decision,” Bowen said.

2010 BCS National Championship: Auburn 22, Oregon 19

It's a final: Auburn wins national championship on Wes Byrum's kick as time expires

Published: Monday, January 10, 2011, 11:14 PM Updated: Monday, January 10, 2011, 11:14 PM

By Charles Goldberg/Auburn Bureau, The Birmingham News, Press-Register, and The Huntsville Times

Kodi Burns finished his Auburn career on a high note with a national championship and this 35-yard touchdown catch (Todd Van Emst photo)

GLENDALE, Ariz. - A quarterback with skills like none other this season, the school's all-time leading scorer and a defense that had just enough presented Auburn the ultimate prize in college football Monday night in the Arizona desert.

Wes Byrum kicked at the game-winning field goal as time expired to give Auburn a 22-19 victory in the BCS national championship game.

Thiller.

Cam Newton threw two touchdown passes and the Tigers' defense came up with big plays to lead Auburn to titl over Oregon in University of Phoenix Stadium in the thriller.

Oregon tied Auburn 19-19 late on a touchdown and 2-point conversion, but big runs from Mike Dyer put Auburn in a position to win it all.

Dyer rolled over a would-be tackler, got up and ran away from Oregon to the Ducks' 23-yard line to set up the winning score.

Neither snow nor rain in the South could prevent a stadium-record crowd of 78,603 from watching Auburn's win.

The Tigers finished their historic season at 14-0, the most wins in school history. It's Auburn's first national title since 1957, and helped ease the pain from the 2004 team that went 13-0 but just missed playing in the BCS title game.

The 2010 team was deserving of the BCS, leaving the game just as it entered it as the No. 1 team in the nation.

Newton threw touchdown passes to Kodi Burns and Emory Blake. Auburn also got a field goal from Wes Byrum. And the Tigers' sometimes-maligned defense stepped up and to stop Oregon's big-play, fast-paced offense. Auburn defensive tackle Mike Blanc dropped the nation's leading rusher, LaMichael James, for a safety late in the second quarter to jump start the Tigers and speed them to victory.

The Tigers quickly followed up the safety with the go-ahead touchdown pass from Newton to Blake.

Leading 19-11 late in the third quarter, Auburn turned back Oregon with a goal line stand. The Ducks had a first down at the Auburn 3. They were turned away when Auburn stopped them on fourth-and-1 from the 1.

Sure-first-round pick Nick Fairley disrupted Oregon's offense throughout.

The Tigers started slowly, but Auburn ran 36 plays in the second quarter, and helped carry the Tigers to a 16-11 halftime lead.