The road ends here for Auburn but the ride will never be forgotten

You could see the pain on Johni Broome's face. You could see it during the last game of his college career, and you could see it after the best team in Auburn history had come up just short of advancing to the national championship game.

The glow of that final score could burn a hole in the Auburn Family's collective soul. Florida 79, Auburn 73. Six points. Might as well have been 16. Or 60. The pain remains the same. Or maybe it's worse knowing a shot here and a stop there could've made all the difference.

Maybe the worst part is knowing you were the best team in the country for four months from November through February, spending eight straight weeks at No. 1 in the AP poll, a record for an SEC team not named Kentucky.

For more than two months, you were the best team in the best SEC in memory, maybe the best top-to-bottom conference ever, clinching the regular-season title with a full week to spare.

And then, on the season's ultimate weekend, you had to admit something to yourself. Because there's one game to play and it won't include you, you were not the best team in the best Final Four ever. Because the team that ended your season plays in your league, and that same team handed you your first conference defeat, you will not go down as the best team in the best version of the SEC.

All told, including the regular season, the conference tournament and the Big Dance, you went 16-5 against SEC opponents. Florida went 18-4, 2-0 against you.

Those facts are far from failure. You were good, very good, so close to all-time great, but not quite good enough. You were close, very close, so close to winning the game your program has never won, but not quite close enough. ...

Read Kevin's entire column in the Lede.