If only it was early February Madness, Auburn would be a hefty favorite to walk away with the national title.

The Tigers were the No. 1 team in the nation on Feb. 7 and owned a 19-game winning streak. But since then, the Tigers have gone 5-4, with losses to Florida and Texas A&M. A lack of scoring has been to blame; in 3 of their past 6 games, they’ve been held to 62 points — and lost all 3. If Bruce Pearl can get the Tigers to reload on offense, they could get back on top of the hunt. But that could be easier said than done.

Auburn, the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region, will open with the No. 15 seed Jacksonville State Gamecocks on Friday in Greenville, S.C. Jacksonville State won the Atlantic Sun regular-season title. Bellarmine won the A-Sun Conference Tournament but wasn’t eligible for the automatic bid because of recently moving up from Division II, so the Gamecocks got the conference’s automatic bid. Veteran coach Ray Harper won NCAA Division II titles and has been to the NCAA Tournament before with Western Kentucky.

The Gamecocks love the 3, shooting 38.8% percent from long-distance, 6th-best in the NCAA. They’re not exactly a high-pressure defense, as they force just under a dozen turnovers a game. Also, for a great shooting 3-point team, they’re oddly bad at the foul line, shooting 68.1%, 292nd in the NCAA. Jacksonville State played one SEC school, losing at Alabama by 5 in December.

Senior Darian Adams is J-State’s top player, a 6-3 guard who transferred from Troy 2 years ago. Adams has scored over 1,500 points in college and has hit 230 3-pointers in his career. The Gamecocks’ top 7 scorers are all juniors and seniors.

This will be J-State’s 2nd NCAA Tournament appearance. They previously made the field in 2017, also as a 15 seed, and they lost by 15 to Louisville in that appearance.

Overall, No. 2 seeds are 118-6 against No. 15 seeds. Last year, however, No. 15 Oral Roberts upset No. 2 seed Ohio State and No. 7 seed Florida to reach the Sweet 16.

So we’re saying there’s a chance?

Not really. Auburn will have to guard the perimeter, but this is a team that only gave up 10 3-pointers in a game 4 times all season. Auburn’s backcourt will get a good chance to get some good mojo going again, as Auburn wins by 25.

From there?

Auburn would likely draw a talented, but inconsistent USC team in the 2nd round — but that’s assuming the Trojans get past underrated Miami in the opening round. USC forces just 10 turnovers per game, 11th-worst in the NCAA. Auburn has too much talent to lose in that matchup, red-hot or otherwise.

In the Sweet 16, the Tigers would likely draw No. 3 seed Wisconsin, before potentially facing No. 1 seed Kansas (or Providence, perhaps) in the Elite 8. The Fighting Johnny Davises would be a challenge, but Wisconsin is underwhelming inside, and Walker Kessler could have a triple-double in that matchup.

Kansas, a trendy pick to win it all, obviously is capable of making life difficult, and given Auburn’s late struggles, that might be more than Auburn is up for.

A thumbnail prediction? Auburn cruises through the first 2 rounds, has a dogfight with Wisconsin in the Sweet 16, but wins it on the strength of Kessler inside. The Tigers get ahead early on Kansas, but struggle in the backcourt down the stretch, and watch the Jayhawks steal the Final Four bid.

Auburn’s bracket has plenty of quality teams, but also plenty of upset potential. Auburn might not have to play Kansas — or Wisconsin for that matter. The Tigers would have been favorites to cruise through this bracket 5 weeks ago. Now? Every game after the first 2 looks like a battle.