LITTLE ROCK — Jeff Lebo laughed at the question.
He was amused at the suggestion someone would pick his Auburn Tigers to finish second in the SEC West.
"You have to pick Arkansas first, with all the talent they have coming back, but us second? I don't think so," he said and then quickly added, "Mississippi and Mississippi State are good. Alabama has some good players. It might be a stretch for us to be picked second, but we aren't sixth, either."
Actually, picking the fourth-year coach's team second is not that crazy considering he has all the players back from last season, when Auburn came up seconds short of tying for the West title. The Tigers led Ole Miss 77-74 with 45 seconds to play.
This was a squad that gave Auburn its first winning season since 2003.
Auburn was almost crippled by NCAA investigations, player problems and assorted other misadventures when Lebo was hired.
The Tigers were so short on players that Lebo, an outstanding guard for Dean Smith at North Carolina, and his assistants had to practice to have enough bodies.
Problem was, Lebo, at 36, was the best player on the practice court.
That began to change his second season and last year, his third, the unheralded Tigers came together with four players averaging at least 10 points each and point guard Quantez Robinson close, but he's a guard who looks to pass first and shoot second and he has 296 assists, which are the most in school history after two seasons.
The Tigers swept in-state rival Alabama, beat the talented Razorbacks at home and all in all played well against five teams that made it into The Associated Press Top 25 during the season.
And there they were, at Ole Miss, with a huge chance.
"I'd say we were about 25 seconds away from hanging a banner," Lebo said. "That would have been great for these kids."
Instead, the Tigers suffered two turnovers and lost 83-79.
That victory gave first-year Coach Andy Kennedy and Ole Miss a tie with Mississippi State for the championship at 8-8.
Auburn fell into a three-way tie for third (or next-to-last) with Arkansas and Alabama.
It was a maturing season for the Tigers, and Lebo feels they are now ready for the next step.
"We are a little bigger and much more experienced, and experience is vital in any industry," he said. "We did a lot of gimmicky things on defense the first three seasons to hide our lack of size. We will be more traditional this season."
What Robinson said traditional meant was that the Tigers would be much better on defense, and for a reason.
"It seems like that is all we practice," he said.
Apparently, there was a three-day span last week when the Tigers worked on offense the sum total of zero minutes.
There is another reason, too.
"We are still a work in progress," Lebo said. "Realistically, though, our goal is postseason play. It is time for us to be playing after the SEC Tournament.
"We didn't think that the first three years, but we should now."
Robinson already had been thinking about that goal.
"I thought we were an NCAA team when I first stepped on campus," he said. "Now everyone else believes it, too, and with our experience, I expect us to make it to the tournament."
There is a big reason the Tigers should believe that: They finally have a real presence on the inside.
Freshman Bourbacar Sylla will come off the bench, but when he does the 7-1 Frenchman adds a new dimension of rebounding and shot blocking.
Like Arkansas, Auburn got an early start by playing in Cancun, Mexico, which Lebo said was beneficial in a number of ways, including team unity and experience for the new players.
"Our first two or three years we just hoped we could stay with teams," Lebo said. "Now it is time to raise the bar."
And finishing second in the West would show the improvement continues.
Sports, Pages 25 on 10/26/2007