Auburn’s last two games have been a whirlwind of disaster! The number one team in the nation is currently 0-2 in March, and it’s not looking good for Bruce Pearl. Losing to A&M was bad enough for the team, but the last regular season game sets the tone heading into the postseason. We’ve seen this story play out many times over the last decade, and it begs the question–where exactly does Auburn go wrong?

Setting aside the last week, Auburn this season has been phenomenal. Their scoring is elite on all three levels, with Broome dominating the paint, and shooters like Denver Jones and Chad Baker-Mazara hitting the three ball. However, their defense over the past two games has been appalling to say the least.

Texas A&M, the #5 ranked team in a stacked SEC conference, held Auburn to just 72 points, never letting them touch the lead. They crashed the boards a lot harder than the Tigers, leaving them in the dust 41-25. As for Alabama? We all know what happened there.

Allowing a team like Alabama to get to the rim is a sign of weakness from Auburn. While it may have been their game plan to suffocate their perimeter shooting, it came at the cost of sheer dominance in the paint. They might have lost the game to a buzzer-beater, but there were other, more tangible, factors to their loss.

Bruce Pearl has a tall task ahead of him in March. There are a lot of expectations on his shoulders for the Tigers to do well. However, with the recent losses, the Auburn community is beginning to show its frustration with the head coach and his lack of playoff success.

Fans aren’t happy with Bruce Pearl after Auburn’s embarrassing week

Social media lost its cool as Auburn lost to Bama at home on their senior night. Mark Sears’ buzzer-beater silenced a crowd of nearly ten thousand people in the Neville Arena. The humiliating defeat led to Bruce Pearl catching a lot of flak from Auburn fans online, as they brought up the receipts of his time at Auburn.

One user on X shared a disappointing statistic about Pearl’s tenure at Auburn. “My favorite stat is that Bruce Pearl has been at Auburn for a decade, and has only made it out of the first weekend of The NCAA Tournament once. One time in ten years.” Which is quite low considering the amount of freedom that he has been given by the program. After their Final Four run, Bruce Pearl hasn’t been able to achieve any major success with the team.

Another fan compared his career with Nate Oats at Alabama. They used statistics to show the difference between the two. “Bruce Pearl has coached 10 seasons at Auburn. Oats 5 at Bama (each is in their 11th and 6th season currently). However, Oats has 8 tournament wins to Pearl’s 7. Each has a Final 4. But Oats has 2 more Sw16s. IN HALF THE TIME.” Oats, after a lukewarm first year, hasn’t missed with his team so far. Alabama is coming off a Final Four appearance last year, and they look like they can make some major noise this month as well!

Some fans have started to call out the coach for his antics. One user penned a high-voltage message to the Auburn head coach. “IF BRUCE PEARL concentrated more on his coaching duties instead of penning toxic, highly controversial tweets about the current Middle East situation maybe his Auburn Tigers might win another college basketball contest this season?!? Great coach but terrible lifestyle choices.” The tweet was referring to Pearl’s controversial comments on the Israel-Palestine conflict. He faced a lot of criticisms for his comments on the Middle East, and Auburn fans just want him to focus on ball!

Speaking of controversy, Auburn supporters are getting fed up with Chad Baker-Mazara and his actions. “I love Auburn but Bruce Pearl must take control of CBM! He continues to hurt Auburn!” A fan said on X. The six-foot-seven forward was ejected from the game against the Crimson Tide for throwing elbows and being unnecessarily aggressive. Pearl might need to tighten his hands with the players.

The Auburn head coach’s post-game conference wasn’t exactly well-received either. “No one in Auburn is crying yet Bruce Pearl spent his entire press conference making excuses. Must suck being 0-2 in March and slipping” A fan on X said, demolishing the head coach for deflecting the blame and responsibility for the loss.

It hasn’t been an easy week to be an Auburn fan, player, or coach. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Bruce Pearl’s team is expected to be a major player in the NCAA tournament. It might be time for the head coach to break the cycle he has been stuck in. There is no doubt that the Auburn team has talent, it’s just a matter of whether they’re able to convert it into wins.