Auburn basketball head coach Bruce Pearl dropped a bold claim about his team after the 67-60 home victory over Arkansas. The No. 1 Tigers won by less than they were projected, but any victory over an SEC team is a good one, especially as Bruce Pearl's team inches closer to another conference regular season title.

Wednesday night's game was a back-and-forth affair. The Tigers struggled heavily from three-point range, shooting just four for 24 from the field. Fortunately, All-American forward Johni Broome and company were able to grind out a twelfth conference win this season. After his team showed its championship will again, Bruce Peal revealed in a postgame interview how great he believes this group of players can be.

“This (win) was really good. You just got to take it one game at a time. We got five games left, and we’re trying to play for a championship. Another thing we’re trying to do is we have a chance to set a record for the most quad 1 wins in a regular season ever. This team has got a chance, if we can finish it the right way, to be one of the best teams in the history of college basketball in a regular season.”

To be fair to anyone up in arms over Pearl's comments, NET rankings were not a thing in college basketball until 2018. So, these comparisons with other legendary teams do not go back that many years. But right now, the Tigers have a staggering 14 quadrant 1 wins this season, six more than the second-place team in this metric. The current record is 16 by Kansas in the 2022-23 season. The Jayhawks went on to win the national title that year.

Auburn's last five games are all against teams in the top 75. That includes four ranked clashes against No. 24 Ole Miss, No. 17 Kentucky, No. 7 Texas A&M, and No. 4 Alabama. The games against the Wildcats and Aggies are on the road. Despite the daunting schedule, the Tigers should be favored in all of these matchups. This is a well-balanced team, with a terrific bench and a phenomenal best player in Johni Broome.

The senior forward is one of the prime candidates for the Naismith College Player of the Year award and was vital in Auburn basketball's best win last Saturday at No. 2 Alabama. While the Tigers do have a lot of new players from last year's squad, it's important to note that this team has a massive chip on its shoulder.

Bruce Pearl's group lost in the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tournament last season to No. 13-seeded Yale. You had better believe that Auburn's head coach and Broome remember that. So, while this squad is chasing a record, it still has its eyes on March and the first national championship in program history.