MINNEAPOLIS — Danjel Purifoy's Internet savvy has become a running joke, of sorts, during Auburn's postseason run.

Bruce Pearl has made light of Purifoy's Twitter and Instagram presence, how the Auburn forward is on alert to call out his own and the team's doubters. Some of Purifoy's teammates have joked — like that Purifoy was the one who first found the "We've Got Jared" song — that if it's out there, Purifoy will find it. Some people might view that as a negative, but oftentimes, it helps.

Take, for instance, when Purifoy sees an ESPN Basketball Power Index graphic that gives Auburn a 7 percent chance to win the Final Four (compared to Virginia's 53 percent chance). Purifoy and Bryce Brown said last week they noticed some Twitter polls that gave Auburn a limited chance to beat North Carolina.

They love seeing that stuff.

"I see it. I don't know if my teammates do, but I look into it pretty well," Purifoy said. "They still doubt us. They expect us to lose this ting. We still feel confident we can win it all."

Others might not search for bulletin-board material as often as Purifoy. But they're well aware it exists. They know few people expected Auburn to reach the Final Four. Even fewer expect to win two games in three days against Virginia and the winner of Texas Tech-Michigan State.

Why is that?

Purifoy has a hunch.

"It's Auburn. We haven't been here," he said. "We haven't been good in a long, long time."

But Auburn is good now. So good that a bracket obstacle course of Kansas, North Carolina and Kentucky couldn't stop the basketball unknown. Yet, Auburn enters the Final Four as a 5.5-point underdog, which isn't a huge surprise considering the Tigers play the only No. 1 seed remaining.

Still, to risk Auburn at this point — given all the on- and off-court adversity this team has been through — is risky business.

"No matter what adversity we’ve been through, I’d never have no doubt in my heart that we can’t win this whole thing. Whatever the polls say, whatever people keep on saying, we’re fine with it," Horace Spencer said. "It’s not going to change where my heart is at. It’s not going to change where my teammates heart is at. They can’t affect how we play unless they physically harm us."

Spencer and Purifoy accept another key reason for the continued doubts: No Chuma Okeke.

Nobody could've imagined an Okeke-less Auburn team would've beaten Kentucky. Nobody except Auburn itself. Spencer points to Okeke's injury as the leading reason for doubts heading into the Final Four. It's the only logical explanation when a team ran through blue bloods the way it just did.

And, like Purifoy said, the idea Auburn basketball can a win a national title? That's just too much for some people to wrap their minds around.

"We lost Chuma. He was our MVP. I understand that’s probably one of the reasons. Plus, we’re still Auburn," Spencer said. "Auburn has historically not been a good basketball program. OK, they’re going to doubt us for history. But we’re changing history as we speak. We’re not supposed to be here. But we’re here now. I feel like we’re the underdogs. I know we’re the underdogs. We love this role."