Men earn 7-seed

[aubiefifty 18,259]

Auburn earns 7-seed in SEC Tournament. Here’s the Tigers’ draw in Nashville

Published: Mar. 04, 2023, 10:00 p.m.

4–5 minutes

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Auburn guard Wendell Green Jr. reacts after making a three pointer against Tennessee during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, March 4, 2023, in Auburn, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)AP

Auburn likely shored up its NCAA Tournament bid on Saturday be securing a signature win against 12th-ranked Tennessee in the teams’ regular-season finale at Neville Arena. That win, combined with how the rest of the day’s action across the league, locked up the seven-seed for Bruce Pearl’s team in next week’s SEC Tournament in Nashville.

Auburn is in the bottom half of the tournament bracket and will open play on Thursday against 10th-seeded Arkansas, with tipoff set for 6 p.m. on SEC Network. Auburn won its lone matchup with Arkansas this season, defeating the Razorbacks, 72-59, at Neville Arena on Jan. 7.

Read more SEC basketball: Auburn likely secures NCAA Tournament bid with win against Tennessee

The full schedule and bracket for the 2023 SEC Tournament

A look at top-seeded Alabama’s path to the SEC Tournament championship game

Until Saturday, that was the Tigers’ marquee win on their NCAA Tournament resume. Now they appear to be in a win-win situation with a rematch set in Nashville. Arkansas is 16th in the NET rankings, making the SEC Tournament matchup another Quad 1 opportunity for Auburn. A win would provide another boost to the Tigers’ resume, as they try to jockey for March Madness seeding this week, while a loss wouldn’t really damage their outlook.

“Now heading into postseason, I told our guys, ‘Look, one team wins the league. One team and that’s Alabama. They won it. The other 13 didn’t,’” Pearl said. “Then the rest of it is about the tournament. It’s all about tournament play now. It’s about postseason now. What kind of seed can you get? What kind of position can you put yourself in to advance in postseason play. That’s where we’re at right now.”

If Auburn can get past Arkansas again, it will set up a quarterfinal matchup with second-seeded Texas A&M on Friday at 6 p.m. in Bridgestone Arena. That game would also air on SEC Network. The Aggies swept the regular-season series against the Tigers, first defeating Auburn by 16 at Neville Arena on Jan. 25 -- snapping the Tigers’ 28-game home winning streak, which was the nation’s longest at the time -- and then beating Pearl’s team by five in College Station, Texas, last month. The quarterfinals matchup with the Aggies would represent another Quad 1 opportunity for the Tigers.

Should Auburn advance to the semifinals on Saturday, it could face one of four teams in a late-afternoon matchup on ESPN. The most likely draw would be Kentucky, the No. 3 seed in the tournament. The Wildcats earned a double-bye in Nashville, and their quadrant of the bracket includes 14th-seeded LSU and 11th-seeded Georgia squaring off Wednesday, with the winner of that game facing sixth-seeded Vanderbilt on Thursday. Kentucky then faces the winner of that matchup in the quarterfinals.

If Pearl’s team makes it to Sunday and the SEC Tournament title game, it could face any of the seven teams from the top half of the bracket. Outright regular-season league champ Alabama is, of course, the favorite to emerge from that side of the field. Fourth-seeded Missouri is the other team to earn a double-bye on that side. There’s also fifth-seeded Tennessee, eighth-seeded Florida, ninth-seeded Mississippi State, 12th-seeded South Carolina and 13th-seeded Ole Miss.

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.

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[AUpreacherman22 3,945]

I would literally rather play anyone else in the league (except for maybe UK) in the second round other that TAMU.    They are our kryptonite! A matchup nightmare!😥

[AUGoo 2,703]

1 hour ago, AUpreacherman22 said:

I would literally rather play anyone else in the league (except for maybe UK) in the second round other that TAMU.    They are our kryptonite! A matchup nightmare!😥

UK has had some bad losses.  As long as they don't go shooting 80% from 3pt land again, I think we can play with them.  And it's unlikely to happen again away from home- I hope.

aTm got a lot of help in College Station and we still played them close.  Neutral court.  Maybe we overcome this time.

[KansasTiger 3,261]

I'm just worried about beating Arky again...let's not get too ahead of ourselves.

[AURex 2,260]

Even Vandy is seeded higher than Auburn. Grrrrr. On a neutral floor, can Auburn beat Arky? I sure hope so. I'm not looking past that game.

 

[gravejd 3,304]

Super tough matchup. Article puts a nice spin on it I guess. Won’t hurt us too bad if we lose it. 

[bigbird 60,940]

Not gonna lie, I'd be tempted to bow out early and heal up for the tourney but I don't think my competitiveness would let me 

[ellitor 33,788]

2 hours ago, bigbird said:

Not gonna lie, I'd be tempted to bow out early and heal up for the tourney but I don't think my competitiveness would let me 

I wouldn't. Gonna take at least 1, maybe 2 wins in the SEC Tourney to move off the 8/9 line and into a 7 seed in the NCAA Tourney. Don't want to play a 1 seed in the NCAA Tourney in the 2nd round if we get that far and can help it.

[AUBwins 10,268]

6 hours ago, ellitor said:

I wouldn't. Gonna take at least 1, maybe 2 wins in the SEC Tourney to move off the 8/9 line and into a 7 seed in the NCAA Tourney. Don't want to play a 1 seed in the NCAA Tourney in the 2nd round if we get that far and can help it.

I find that may be the best time to beat a 1 seed imo, when you can be a bit overlooked.  Obviously the hope is someone else knocks them off first.  And 7 would prevent a 1 seed matchup until elite 8.