Scarbinksy On Auburn & The Tourney

[AUChizad]

http://blog.al.com/kevin-scarbinsky/2009/03/scarbinsky_auburn_suddenly_in.html

Scarbinsky: Auburn suddenly in a league of their own
Posted by Kevin Scarbinsky -- Birmingham News March 08, 2009 7:40 AM
Categories: Auburn Basketball
Bernard Troncale/Birmingham News

I want Joe Lunardi and Jerry Palm to look Trent Johnson in the face and tell him Auburn doesn't belong in the NCAA Tournament discussion. And then I want to see the look on Johnson's face.

Can you say death stare?

The LSU coach has the best scowl in the SEC since Wimp Sanderson, and he had plenty of chances to use it Saturday afternoon as the regular-season champions got disfigured by the hottest team in the league.

On the way to Auburn 69, LSU 53, Johnson scowled his way into a technical foul.

Imagine the hole he might stare in the dismissive Lunardi, of ESPN.com, and Palm, of CollegeRPI.com.
 

Asked about Auburn last week, those buzz-killing bracketologists reacted as if someone had stepped in something.

Johnson, the SEC coach of the year, offered a more educated opinion.

Auburn, he said, "they're not getting their due respect. For them not to be mentioned, goodness. What are we talking about here?"

Forget Johnson's face.

You should've heard the exasperation in his voice.

If we're talking about Auburn, as Johnson did with passion, we're talking about the only basketball team in the league that's beaten both SEC West champ LSU and SEC East champ Tennessee this season.

We're talking about a team that's gone 10-6 in the SEC, and if the SEC is down, it's partly because Auburn has helped beat it down. Eight of Auburn's 10 conference wins have come by at least 12 points.

We're talking about a team that has won eight of its last nine games at the most important time of the season.

There are 73 teams in the six BCS conferences. Five of them have won at least eight of their last nine games.

Likely No. 1 seeds North Carolina and Pitt.

Pac-10 champion Washington.

Louisville, who joined that exclusive club of streakers with a late-night 62-59 win at West Virginia.

And Auburn.

"I don't think there's anybody in our league, maybe not anybody in the country, that's played as good a basketball as (Auburn) in the last 45 days," Johnson said.

"Everybody talks about Kentucky and Florida as bubble teams in this league. You'll never hear Auburn's name in the mix, but I've had my share of postseason experiences. That's an NCAA Tournament-caliber team."

I watched the Tigers twice in person in the past week, from the second-half comeback at sold-out Alabama to the 40-minute statement against LSU.

I second that emotion.

LSU discovered the truth about Auburn twice in the last two weeks, in a close win in Baton Rouge and a not-so-close loss here. There are few teams that play smaller, but harder and tougher, than these Tigers.

It's a toughness born in a scholarship senior class of Korvotney Barber, Rasheem Barrett and Quantez Robertson that came to Auburn when there weren't a lot of obvious reasons to come to Auburn.

"They came when it wasn't fashionable," coach Jeff Lebo said.

There's still nothing fashionable about this group of grinders, but they'll leave as the class that put Auburn basketball back on the map.

Now, if only the national experts and analysts would bother to look at the latest map of SEC basketball and look beyond the usual suspects.

Auburn may not pass the RPI test or the strength-of-schedule test, but the best way to judge a basketball team isn't with computer numbers but with your eyes.

"I couldn't agree with that more," Johnson said.

He didn't smile as he said it, but for one of the few times all day, at least he didn't scowl.

Here's photos from Saturday's game:
(You'll have to click the link to see)
Earlier this week, I joined fellow columnist Ray Melick for this One-Minute Madness webcast to talk about whether Auburn or UAB is better fit for the NCAA.
Best NCAA tourney team, UAB or Auburn?
(Again, you'll have to click the link)

[Tarheel]

I want Joe Lunardi and Jerry Palm to look Trent Johnson in the face and tell him Auburn doesn't belong in the NCAA Tournament discussion. And then I want to see the look on Johnson's face.
...

That's great!

Thanks for posting this article...good read, Chizad.