Auburn basketball faces bubble status ahead of March Madness with the Tigers' 16-14 record. Bruce Pearl is a fierce defender of his former team, including believing undefeated Miami (OH) isn't deserving of an at-large bid compared to them. But that TNT Sports rant sparked a nepotism argument involving his son Steven Pearl, the first-year head coach of Auburn.
Pearl addressed the favoritism theories Wednesday.
“Am I rooting for my son to make the NCAA tournament? Of course I am. Did I help my son get the job? Nepotism? Of course I did,” Pearl revealed to Dan Dakich of OutKick.
Bruce Pearl on his bias towards Auburn, which is now coached by his son:
"Am I rooting for my son to make the NCAA tournament? Of course I am. Did I help my son get the job? Nepotism? Of course I did." pic.twitter.com/TIb2XqjZFh
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) March 4, 2026
Pearl admitted what the critics were thinking. And he's not shying away from his honesty about himself or his successor for the Tigers.
“People want to accuse me of something, saying, ‘Yeah, I love the United States of America. I love my ancestral Jewish homeland.' No, I’m not going to deny who I am, and who I’ve always been,” Pearl said.
Critics calling out Bruce Pearl's son at Auburn
Pearl faced intense scrutiny during his three-decade run as a head coach through various stops. Now Steven feels the heat from the critics. ESPN's Paul Finebaum is one of the more outspoken ones for the younger Pearl.
“It’s gone very badly,” Finebaum said in summing up Steven Pearl's inaugural head coaching debut.
But the verbose Finebaum refused to compare the new Auburn leader to his dad.
“Some are arguing that Steven Pearl ends up being his father. I don’t necessarily buy that,” Finebaum said. “I don’t like what I’ve seen in this team.”
Elsewhere, Chad Withrow of OutKick believes the current Auburn players don't respect Steven Pearl.
Steven Pearl’s players don’t respect him. It’s obvious. But Auburn needs to let him get his chosen guys in the program and sink or swim. pic.twitter.com/sUd4kmLnqj
— Chad Withrow (@TheChadWithrow) March 4, 2026
Auburn still boasts one of the higher odds to make the tournament among the teams on the bubble (93.3% chance as of Saturday per Team Rankings). The Tigers handled LSU on Tuesday with an 88-74 victory, boosting their record to 16-14 overall. But a Saturday upset over No. 16 Alabama will elevate Auburn's chances.
