Bruce Pearl's Bracket
Fiery Auburn coach-turned analyst Bruce Pearl presents his picks for the NCAA Tournament. With the Tigers NIT-bound, Pearl doesn't have much faith in the SEC.
bruce pearl
Longtime college basketball coach Bruce Pearl joined CBS Sports in 2025 where he serves as a game and studio analyst. During his coaching career, Pearl guided his teams to the NCAA Tournament 22 times during his 30 seasons as a head coach, including two Final Four berths (2019 and 2025) with Auburn. He is the only coach in SEC history to lead two different programs to a No. 1 national ranking (Tennessee in 2008, Auburn in 2022 and 2025) and was named SEC Coach of the Year four times (2006, 2008, 2022 and 2025). Pearl was named the Associated Press Co-National Coach of the Year in 2025 and led Auburn to the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.