Despite going 1-3 in its last four games, there still doesn’t seem to be much concern for Auburn men’s basketball going into the NCAA tournament.

Head coach Bruce Pearl was asked if there was any panic following Auburn’s Southeastern Conference tournament semifinal loss to Tennessee, a question he gave a sarcastic response to.

“I’m really glad you asked me that question. We lost to Alabama, Tennessee and Texas A&M. Yeah, we’re panicked,” Pearl said with a sarcastic shrug, “That’s a real softball.”

Pearl added that Auburn “lost to some great teams,” a claim the rankings and metrics would back up. Tennessee is ranked No. 8 in the AP Poll, while Alabama and Texas A&M are No. 6 and No. 14, respectively.

Each game was a Quad I loss and no team in the country has played more Quad I games than Auburn this season.

Saturday’s loss to Tennessee was Auburn’s final game before Selection Sunday, but Auburn still likely has control of the No. 1 overall seed. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi said before the game that “Auburn has locked up the No. 1 overall seed regardless of further results,” and he gave the same report after the game.

“I can hardly wait till next weekend and start playing again,” Pearl said. “Just get to Sunday. Let’s find out where we’re going, let’s find out who we’re playing and let’s get back to work.”

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at [email protected]m