Just six games remain for the Auburn Tigers men’s basketball team as they march to the SEC and NCAA Tournaments. Currently, they hold the No. 1 seed in the conference, just one game ahead of the Kentucky Wildcats, who they beat 80-71 earlier this season.
The team has struggled in their last two road games against the Georgia Bulldogs, and the overtime loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks. On Saturday, they looked very much like the team we had seen for most of the season and not the team that was turnover prone against the Dawgs and the Hogs. That is thanks in large part to the return of point guard Zep Jasper.
Bruce Pearl’s squad remains a top seed and will likely finish out the year as one of the four No. 1 seeds as long as they don’t stumble down the stretch. The Tigers have a very winnable slate over the final six games with the lone ranked opponent being the Tennessee Vols. Auburn travels to Knoxville on Feb. 26 for that game.
Auburn has the current top seed in the Midwest bracket according to USA TODAY Sports. They would play out of Indianapolis for the first two games. They would match up with No. 16 Southern or Colgate, whoever wins the play-in game. Auburn would then face the winner of TCU and Murray State to have a chance to go to the Sweet 16.
The top seeds in the Midwest bracket for this projection:
- No. 2 Purdue
- No. 3 Texas Tech
- No. 4 Villanova
- No. 5 Ohio State
- No. 6 Arkansas
- No. 7 Alabama
In all the SEC would have six teams in the NCAA Tournament with Kentucky, Tennessee, and LSU added to the mix. At this point in the season, no SEC teams are among the first four out or the next four out.
Auburn will be back on the hardwood at Auburn Arena on Wednesday when they host the Vanderbilt Commodores.
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