Auburn took a step closer to winning the SEC regular-season title Wednesday night with a dominating performance over rival Alabama. The Tigers whipped up on the Tide by a score of 90-71 and had Bruce Pearl screaming for joy after the game.

During a Thursday morning appearance on WJOX 94.5 FM program The Opening Drive, CBS Sports college basketball analyst Gary Parrish expressed his shock at Auburn’s big win. Taking into account the Tigers were down to seven scholarship players for the game and Alabama is currently on the bubble for NCAA Tournament consideration, it appeared the odds were in the Tide’s favor going into tip-off.

Despite the odds being stacked against them, Auburn came out on fire and finished the deal in front of a frenzied home crowd. Following the results, Parrish believes Pearl likely deserves National Coach of the Year honors. Whether he gets the award is another story, according to the CBS Sports analyst.

“It’s a terrific coaching job. I don’t know if Bruce Pearl will be able to get the votes for National Coach of the Year. Some people, right or wrong, simply will not vote for him because of the FBI investigation — they’ll take a moral stand (against Pearl). While, if we’re speaking honestly, we’d be giving the award to someone who’s probably done just the same thing Bruce Pearl may or may not have had happen in his program,” Parrish said on the air.

“If you were basing it just on the job somebody has done coaching a basketball team this year, which is probably what the award ought to be, you probably give it to Bruce Pearl.”

Moral stand or not, Auburn currently sits at 24-4 overall with a conference mark of 12-3 as the regular season is coming close to an end. Considering all the adversity the program has been hit with this season, that’s an incredible accomplishment all the way around by Auburn and Pearl.