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SMU fires back after Bruce Pearl questions Mustangs' NCAA Tournament inclusion

FaceProfileby: Thomas Goldkamp03/16/26

The shots were flying after the 2026 NCAA Tournament bracket was revealed. And SMU didn’t waste any time firing back at Bruce Pearl after the CBS Sports analyst questioned the Mustangs’ inclusion in March Madness.

After weeks of back-and-forth about whether Pearl was indulging in nepotism in lobbying for Auburn and his son, Steven Pearl, to make the Big Dance — mostly centered around whether then-unbeaten Miami (Ohio) should make the field if it suffered a loss — Pearl switched up targets on Sunday. SMU entered the crosshairs.

Bruce Pearl targeted the team’s relatively poor out-of-conference strength of schedule, suggesting Auburn or Oklahoma would have been a better inclusion in the field. SMU was not amused.

The team’s official basketball Twitter account fired off a short, simple message. “We can’t all be named Pearl.”

More on SMU, Bruce Pearl’s comments

SMU was among the last four teams in the bracket. Oklahoma, Auburn, San Diego State and Indiana were the respective first four out, and Pearl pointed out two of those teams – Oklahoma and Auburn – he thought could have been in play for SMU’s spot.

Specifically, Pearl questioned the Mustangs’ non-conference strength of schedule, which ranks 190th in the nation, according to WarrenNolan.com. For reference, KenPom ranks SMU’s non-conference schedule strength at No. 144, while ESPN’s BPI has it at No. 55. But the lack of road wins, Pearl said, is why he wondered if Auburn or Oklahoma could have taken that spot.

“You’ve got to either win your way in or lose your way out,” Pearl said during the bracket reveal show. “For me, I always said, if we’ve got to put one in, who would you take out? To me, SMU with a 191 out-of-conference strength of schedule. I don’t know that they should’ve been rewarded. They only won five games away from home. For me, it would’ve been either Oklahoma or Auburn taking that last spot.”

SMU went 20-13 overall this year following the loss to Louisville after going 8-10 during conference play. But he missed the last five games due to an injury suffered against Cal. The Mustangs went 1-4 during that span to close out the year. For comparison, they’re 19-9 when Edwards is in the lineup.

Notably, the Mustangs also had nine wins against Quadrant 1 and Quadrant 2 opponents – four in Q1 and five in Q2. They also have not lost to a Q3 or Q4 team and sit at No. 37 in the NET rankings heading into the NCAA Tournament.

SMU is also preparing to get a big-time boost for March Madness, though. BJ Edwards is expected to be available, the program announced Friday. That’s huge for the Mustangs considering he averages 12.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.9 assists and a team-high 2.3 steals.

SMU will begin its NCAA Tournament journey in Dayton for the First Four. The Mustangs will take on Miami (OH) this week in a play-in game.

On3’s Nick Schultz also contributed to this report.