Only three times in program history has Auburn won the SEC regular-season title, the last coming in 2018 when the Tigers shared the honors with Tennessee. With a one-game lead and just an away game at Mississippi State and a home matchup against South Carolina standing between Bruce Pearl's squad and a fifth conference championship, the Auburn coach can't speak enough of how important winning that title would be for the Tigers.

"That's what you play for," Pearl said. "I place a greater value — you guys have heard me say this many times — regular-season championship in the SEC, to me, is the greatest prize. It's not the tournament because the tournament is three or four games."

The Tigers have been atop the standings since beating LSU, 70-55, in the conference opener on December 29. Led by Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler, Auburn rolled off 10 straight wins in SEC play to make a statement to the rest of the league. As Pearl mentioned, the Tigers have earned the right to be in this situation going into the last week of the regular season.

"We're in position to win it," the Auburn coach said. "So we want to take advantage of the position we worked so hard to put ourselves in."

Even with a loss against Mississippi State, the Tigers will still enter Auburn Arena on Saturday against the Gamecocks with a chance to at least split the title, an accomplishment itself. Still, this Auburn team, already making history by earning a No. 1 ranking for the first time, wants to put their stamp on the title race with emphasis.

Their coach sees an opportunity when it presents itself.

"How important is it to make history around here? It's the first thing you see when you walk into our locker rooms, so it's pretty important," Pearl said. "In order to win our league this year, a year where the league is as good as it's probably ever been, that's historic."