When you go into the NCAA tournament as the No. 1 overall seed, it can be hard to deem anything other than a national championship as success.

Auburn men’s basketball entered the 2025 NCAA tournament with that distinction, but came up short of the ultimate prize, falling to Florida in the Final Four.

It ended a season in which Auburn set a program record for wins, won the Southeastern Conference regular season title, crowned a new all-time winningest player and a new all-time winningest coach. The season was in many ways the best in Auburn history, but that doesn’t make Saturday’s loss any less heartbreaking for everyone involved.

“It’s a lot of just tough feelings,” said Auburn senior forward Chaney Johnson. “It’s the last game so we can’t just put it behind us like we did after we lost to Tennessee or any other games in the year. That was it.”

Mixed in with the disappointment of falling short of the ultimate goal is the finality presented by Saturday’s final buzzer.

It’s the last time this Auburn team will be together and the last time many players in that Auburn locker room will play a college basketball game.

With the season now officially over, the inevitable conversation discussing how the campaign will be remembered begins.

Is Auburn making its second ever Final Four a massive success? Or does falling short of a national championship after being the No. 1 overall seed and looking unstoppable for two months warrant feelings of disappointment?

For head coach Bruce Pearl, the disappointment was clear on his face as he took questions postgame. But even in the midst of heartbreak, the team still gives him a feeling of pride.

“I’m really proud of my team, how these guys made history, the best basketball team in the history of Auburn basketball,” Pearl said. “They gave us a ride that won’t ever be forgotten.”

There were wins. Thirty-two of them to be exact. There were moments. Whether it be Miles Kelly’s game-winning 3-pointer to beat Tennessee at Neville Arena or Johni Broome’s heroics on one arm in the Elite Eight, Auburn created plenty of positive memories in 2025.

For Dylan Cardwell, the fifth-year center who became Auburn’s winningest player this season, the moment is bittersweet, but what he remembers most is the bond created with his teammates.

“We just have so many great memories on and off the court,” Cardwell said. “This is the funniest team I’ve ever been on, but most loving, caring and thoughtful team I’ve ever been on. I’ll forever remember this team and hope we can stay in touch for the rest of our lives.”

Senior guard Miles Kelly said despite the loss, he has no regrets. He described the season as the “most fun year” he’s had in college, having spent the three previous seasons at Georgia Tech.

But how will history and the Auburn fanbase remember this season?

Only time will tell, but it’s hard to argue with what the Tigers accomplished this season. There was no national championship, but Pearl’s success over the last decade at Auburn seems to blind the fact that this was just the program’s second ever Final Four.

To give another idea of how good this team was, Auburn’s end of season KenPom adjusted efficiency rating (35.04) would’ve finished as the best in the country in seven of the last 10 seasons.

In 2025, that mark put Auburn fourth, demonstrating just how strong the top of college basketball was this season and how difficult it is to go all the way in the NCAA tournament.

Acknowledging how difficult it is to make a deep run in the tournament can also add to the disappointment. If this was Auburn’s best ever team, can the program ever reach the one height it has yet to reach?

Saturday’s loss doesn’t mean the answer to that question is no, but it’s still an impossible question to answer.

For now, Auburn is feeling the bittersweet emotions that come with losing in the Final Four. Johnson said Pearl told the team in the locker room that the season wasn’t a wash, despite not going all the way.

It will be hard for anyone in the program to feel anything but disappointment in the short term, but in a season full of history, there’s more positive to remember than negative.

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