Auburn, the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, must navigate the treacherous South region with a target on its back.
The South was the first bracket to be revealed thanks to the Auburn Tigers earning the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers’ reward for being better than any other team? A path that could lead them to the regional in Atlanta, less than a two-hour drive from the university’s campus.
The Tigers played one of the toughest schedules possible this season, going 16-5 in Quadrant 1 games and winning the regular-season crown in an SEC that put 14 teams into the tournament. They are ridiculously deep, led by All-American and National Player of the Year contender Johni Broome. For more than three months, Bruce Pearl’s team has been on the shortlist of most likely national champions, joined by Duke and, to a lesser extent, both Florida and Houston.
March has not been kind to Auburn, though. The Tigers enter the first round having lost three of their last four games. While the committee set Auburn up for a favorable second-weekend crowd, the Tigers could meet an under-seeded Lousiville team in the second round — in Lexington no less, roughly 80 miles from the Cardinals’ campus.
The bottom half of the bracket is filled with box-office guards, led by Michigan State’s Jaden Akins and Tre Holloman, Marquette’s Bob Cousy award candidate Kam Jones, and New Mexico phenom Donovan Dent. Meanwhile, Iowa State announced that Keshon Gilbert would miss the tournament due to injury, but they still have plenty of backcourt firepower with Tamin Lipsey and Curtis Jones.
The region kicks off on Tuesday with North Carolina and San Diego State facing off in the First Four. The winner plays a Mississippi team that is just 5-5 in its past 10 games.
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