Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl, right, reacts to a call during the first half against Virginia in the semifinals of the Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament, Saturday, April 6, 2019, in Minneapolis. David J. Phillip AP
The Auburn Tigers entered the 2019 NCAA Tournament riding momentum after capturing the SEC tournament title with a 20-point victory against Tennessee.
All of that was building toward a memorable March Madness run to the program’s first-ever Final Four trip, where they played the No. 1-seeded Virginia Cavaliers in Saturday’s first national semifinal in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
But it was also part of Auburn coach Bruce Pearl’s prediction coming true.