Auburn is making a short trip up Highway 280 for its fourth NCAA Tournament appearance under head coach Bruce Pearl.

Auburn earned a No. 9 seed in the Midwest Region in this year’s NCAA Tournament and will face eighth-seeded Iowa in the opening round Thursday in Birmingham. Tipoff and game time for the matchup between the Tigers and Hawkeyes will be announced later Sunday evening.

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Auburn (20-12) will be making its second consecutive March Madness appearance under Pearl and the program’s 12th appearance all-time. Pearl met with the local media at approximately 6 p.m. to preview the Tigers’ opening-round matchup and draw in the Midwest Region, which will begin with a Hawkeyes program he previously spent time at as an assistant coach early in his career (1986-92).

Below is a recap of everything the Tigers’ coach said Sunday evening:

BRUCE PEARL

— “No matter how old you get or how long you’ve been doing it, it’s still very, very special to see your name and hear your name called.”

— Pearl ponders why Auburn got a nine-seed: Team’s NET was in line with an eight-seed and all the other metrics were in that range. Tigers faced six tournament teams in nonconference play, which helped. In all, Auburn played 13 teams that made the field. Previous program record was 10. Even in some of Auburn’s losses, it was competitive (at Tennessee, at Alabama, at Texas A&M, etc.).

— “I’m very proud of my team for putting themselves in position.”

— Pearl believes “some level of fatigue” factored into Auburn’s overall record this season, given how much the team traveled this year, Israel trip included.

— Says he “would be remiss” if he didn’t start out talking about how special his time at Iowa as an assistant coach was. “Really important time for me as an assistant coach under Dr. Tom Davis.”

— Calls Iowa coach Fran McCaffery “a brilliant offensive tactician.” Notes Iowa will be one of the best offensive teams Auburn has faced all season. Hawkeyes have the nation’s No. 3 offensive efficiency and play at a fast tempo without turning it over much.

— Pearl says it’s “significant” that this is Auburn’s fourth tournament appearance in the last five postseasons.

— On playing in Birmingham: “For our fans and for our students, I think it’s just awesome. So, hopefully we’ll get great support and see if we can have a shining moment or two.”

— On reaction to drawing Birmingham: “We knew that Birmingham was an 8-9 site… and (the NCAA) has a better chance to fill” Legacy Arena.

— Pearl: “There was a lot of really good basketball played in the state of Alabama this year.”

— Pearl told his players a little bit about Iowa and its offensive prowess in the locker room upon learning the draw. They’ll dig into Iowa more later.

— On the environment he expects in Birmingham: “I’m happy for our alumni, our students, our fanbase to have an opportunity to go and watch some incredible basketball and know that your team is one of 68 playing for a national championship.”

— Preseason trip to Israel helped Auburn play well early this season, but Pearl also believes it may have worn the Tigers out later in the year.

— “There are some teams all over this bracket that are capable of making a run.”

— On avoiding the bubble, Pearl credits assistant Mike Burgomaster for helping put together a strong nonconference schedule: “While it’s kind of easy to criticize this team for the games we lost, we were 19-3 in games against teams we were favored against.” Now the question is: Can Auburn “reach up and raise the bar a little bit?”

— “We’re prepared.”

— Auburn will probably leave for Birmingham on Tuesday after practice.

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.