Sometimes the jokes just write themselves. Bruce Pearl, who quit right before the season, so Auburn had to hire his son, Steven, is now complaining about the officiating in the Tennessee win over Auburn on Thursday afternoon. Maybe if Bruce hadn’t quit right before the year, he could’ve made sure Auburn wasn’t on the bubble.
Bruce Pearl made sure to go straight to X, where he posted, “There’s Rim Protection, and there’s what’s been allowed to happen in the last 10 minutes.” Okay, Bruce, whatever you say. The fouls were 24 on Auburn and 17 on Tennessee, but that doesn’t take into account that Auburn started fouling with 90 seconds left in the game because the Vols had built up such a great lead.
There’s Rim Protection and there’s what’s been allowed to happen in the last 10 minutes.
— Bruce Pearl (@coachbrucepearl) March 12, 2026
One play that likely had him upset was the monster block by Felix Okpara, which led to the tying basket for Tennessee. It was a big momentuim play no doubt, but this was as clean as ever. This block by Okpara was all ball, and if Pearl has a problem with this, then he doesn’t know what he’s talking about…