Is Auburn receiving immoderate criticism compared to their SEC counterparts?
It’s no secret that Auburn has failed to meet fans’ expectations this year. They are currently 18-9 and about to face Ole Miss at home. That sounds bad when you take it at face value compared to last year’s team. However, when you take a closer look, the season hasn’t been as bad as it looks. I think Auburn Basketball is catching too much flack from the fans.
We’re a better team than Kentucky.
– B-Wil on the Mid-Week Rapport
Kentucky is a historically dominant program, at least in the Rupp era. With that being said, it’s reasonable to assume that Kentucky should be an SEC contender year in and year out. However, they really laid an egg this year with the talent they had. Then, you look at the opposite of that with Auburn, a program with limited success before Bruce Pearl. This year is considered a significant down year for Auburn, and they are still just as good as Kentucky this year. (18-9)
So, while this team is certainly below expectations; it’s still a good season, in the grand scheme of college basketball. Outside of getting blown out by one of our last 3 opponents, this is a tournament team. So, your criticism is fair, but it’s still worth examining the results of this year compared to other teams in better positions.
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