Auburn went ice cold again, and yeah, it just wasn’t meant to be this year.
It wasn’t lightning in a bottle again like 2019 — even though it felt a bit like it during a few fleeting moments in the first half. Eventually Houston settled in, Auburn went on the cold streak it’s gone on several times in several games this season, and the things didn’t go right that you need to go right to beat a No. 1 seed.
All told, the sun will rise again, and Auburn comes back turning the page with the changing weather. All told, Auburn got back to the round of 32. The Tigers never thought they had the perfect team to begin with. Maybe if they ran into Purdue, or Kansas, but Houston was on its game. Maybe. Maybe. If only. If only.
Bruce Pearl comes back to Auburn scratching his beard, surely thinking about how to fix those scoring droughts, among everything else. There’s a big boon of talent on the horizon in the class of 2024, but before then, he’s challenged with putting the pieces to the puzzle together to get back in this position next season and win that time. We’ll see if Chance Westry suits up next season. We’ll see if the any of the COVID seniors come back for a fifth year. Who knows what’ll happen in the world of the transfer portal.
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If you told me going into the season that Johni Broome would be Auburn’s best player, then yes, a nine seed and a fine season would’ve sounded about right: But, watching it in person, there’s a little more to this Broome than a rock-solid transfer mercenary. There’s something a little more special in there.
And that’s what Auburn’s left with this offseason — trying to pull that ‘special’ out of what they’ve got, and go from special moments throughout the season to a truly special postseason result.
The ‘special’ was there this season, during Tent City 2, during the high-flying moments from Israel to Washington, on the days the Auburn fans turned Birmingham into a home game.
Don’t lose sight of those moments.
Those are the building blocks to moving onward and upward and getting that special result.
