There was a moment, here, mid-way through the conference slate, where if you squinted just the right way, you could see Auburn as an NCAA Tournament team. Auburn was playing a dizzying, up-tempo brand of basketball, and was coming off a season sweep of the Crimson Tide.
Sure, there was a recent 10-point loss to an average Tennessee team, and a blowout beating at the hands of a ranked South Carolina squad, but Auburn had won five of its last eight games to get to 15-8 on the season. It was a longshot, sure, but with the incredible young talent at Bruce Pearl’s disposal, maybe they could do it.