Bruce Pearl has never been hesitant to jump out on the proverbial ledge. He's a master marketer and an even better basketball coach.
Consider what he has accomplished at Auburn in what has been a historic regular season for the No. 1 Tigers -- and for the entire SEC. With the SEC's men's basketball tournament set to begin Wednesday in Nashville, Tennessee, the league is projected to send 13 teams to the NCAA tournament, according to ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi, which would break the Big East's record of 11 bids set in 2011.
The crème de la crème has come courtesy of Pearl, who has transformed the "Loveliest Village on the Plains" into a village as consumed with basketball as it is football, and Pearl has a unique perspective on what a monster the football-obsessed SEC has become in terms of hoops.