ESPN analyst updates Auburn’s place on NCAA Tournament bubble after Mississippi State win
By Luke Greco
Published:
After a 79-61 win over Mississippi State in the first round of the SEC Tournament, the Auburn Tigers‘ spot on the NCAA Tournament bubble has been updated.
The Tigers came into the SEC Tournament having lost 8 of their last 10 games. The road to an NCAA Tournament at-large bid seemed near impossible for a team with 15 losses, but after a blowout victory over Mississippi State, the odds are increasing.
ESPN still has Auburn in its “Work to do” category within the SEC, but it’s not over for the Tigers quite yet. Here’s what ESPN had to say about Auburn and it’s NCAA Tournament case:
The Tigers lost eight of their final 10 regular season games to cast serious doubt on their tournament future. But they began the long climb back on Wednesday with a convincing victory over Mississippi State in the SEC first round. The Tigers aren’t without a case for the committee, headlined by four Quadrant 1 wins (two vs. Q1-A) against the nation’s fifth-most difficult schedule, per the BPI. And, they are still mid-40s in the national résumé ranking average. Ordinarily, that would put a team directly on the bubble — but with 15 losses, it’s historically almost impossible to make the tournament as an at-large team. Auburn’s consensus at-large odds are 54% as it looks ahead to Round 2 against Tennessee.
The Tigers will look to keep their hopes alive as they take on Tennessee at 3 p.m. EST.
Auburn isn’t the only SEC team on the NCAA Tournament bubble. Here’s a look from Kalshi at the odds of all SEC teams on the bubble:
