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Every year, the NCAA tournament selection committee gets ratioed into oblivion for leaving certain schools out of the Big Dance. But CBS’s annual Selection Sunday show had a new villain this year: Bruce Pearl.
In recent weeks, the former Auburn coach-turned-CBS/TNT Sports analyst annoyed some college basketball fans (and administrators) by lobbying for the Tigers to make the tournament over then-undefeated Miami (Ohio). Pearl spent the previous 11 seasons coaching Auburn. His son, Steven Pearl, led the Tigers to a 17-16 record and the wrong side of the bubble in his debut season as the program’s head coach.
Never mind that Pearl cheerfully admitted to his son benefiting from “nepotism” by succeeding him at Auburn. Never mind the obvious conflict of interest of Pearl still being on the university’s payroll while stumping for the Tigers on national TV.
On Sunday night, it was the Bruce Pearl show: When the 65-year-old ex-coach got the national TV spotlight, he didn’t back off. Instead, as Pearl is wont to do, he doubled down, questioning why the Tigers didn’t qualify. Either Auburn or Oklahoma should have beaten out SMU for the tournament’s last spot, opined Pearl, who has since backtracked on his previous Miami (Ohio) criticism
“Auburn beat three champions this year. They beat Florida, they beat St. John’s, and they beat Arkansas. They played the toughest schedule in the country, don’t know if they were rewarded for it,” Pearl said of his son’s program.
Give the Auburn “ambassador” some credit for standing by his family and school. But that didn’t stop rival schools from dunking on the coach for his obvious bias and nepotism. Some fans also unfavorably compared his performance to ex-Villanova coach Jay Wright, who worked last year’s selection show for CBS.
“We can’t all be named Pearl,” SMU Basketball wrote on X/Twitter.
“Just realized the best part of having an autobid is that we don’t need a relative going on tv to explain why we deserve to be in over a 30-win @MiamiRedHawks,” the UMBC athletic department’s official account added.
Hall of Fame boxing announcer Al Bernstein blamed CBS/TNT’s producers for not reigning Pearl in. “Amazing that Bruce Pearl is so tone deaf that he is still arguing on behalf of Auburn on the selection show…,” he tweeted. “The panel played to it too. Not even an attempt by the producers of the show to steer him away from it.”
But Pearl has defenders, too. CBS and Hoops HQ analyst Seth Davis praised his first appearance on the Selection Show, tweeting: “Doing your first selection show is hard enough. Doing it under these circumstances was especially difficult. He handled it like a true pro and a mensch. Now on to the games!”
It’s a tricky situation for CBS and TNT, which co-produce March Madness coverage. You want your analysts to stand out and make interesting, thought-provoking comments. At the same time, you don’t want to turn your coverage into a joke. Monday’s New York Post went so far as to call Pearl a “Selection Sunday laughingstock.”
On the other hand, is it possible CBS/TNT have found another Billy Packer in Pearl? For 35 years, the curmudgeonly Packer served as the face and voice of CBS’s NCAA coverage. The late broadcaster, who died at age 83 in 2023, could be arrogant, condescending, and even maddening at times. But people watched because they loved to hate Packer and his opinions.
Pearl was already a polarizing figure for many due to his strong support for President Donald Trump and the State of Israel. In September, ESPN’s Mike Wilbon ripped him as an intentionally “divisive person,” surprising on-air partner Tony Kornheiser.
After retiring from coaching last fall, Pearl considered a run for the U.S. Senate from Alabama before opting for a TV job with TNT. Maybe Pearl has found his footing in sports media as a brazen, unapologetic broadcaster.
Love him or hate him, Pearl won’t be hard to find in the weeks ahead, as he’ll serve as a studio analyst in Atlanta with Davis, Jalen Rose, and Jamal Mashburn for this year’s tournament. It will be fascinating to watch how CBS/TNT uses him opposite the likes of Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith in New York for the rest of the tournament and how his broadcasting career evolves from here.
