When Auburn basketball was a No. 5 seed in the last NCAA Tournament, they went all the way to the Final Four. On the other hand, 5-seed Tennessee dropped in the very first round, losing 70-56 to 12-seed Oregon State.
The Beavers went up early on in the game and held firmly to the lead throughout both halves. They led by 20 points at most and never fell behind the Volunteers, who got only as close as within 10 points.
Tennessee shot at only 33.3% from the field and went 5-26 from behind the arc. The Oregon State victory marks the first March Madness victory for the team in 39 years.
PARTY LIKE IT’S 1982!
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 19, 2021
(12) Oregon State stays hot & locks in its first #MarchMadness W in 39 years by knocking off (5) Tennessee 70-56! #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/KDMcj8paiv
Needless to say, the No. 5 Tennessee team did not live up to the No. 5 Auburn team, and Tiger fans had a few things to say about it. With Auburn basketball ineligible for the tournament due to the self-imposed post-season ban, fans are left to talk about the rest of the SEC dancing in 2021.
The last time an @SEC team was #5 seed in the Midwest Region, they went to the FINAL FOUR ‼️
— AUBURN SUPERFAN #2 (@MichaelFloyd_AU) March 19, 2021
It's Tennessee's year
— BoddaGettaBasketball (@BoddaGettaBball) March 19, 2021
don’t let this Ohio State game distract you from the fact Tennessee has scored 9 points in 12 and a half minutes against the nation’s No. 118 defense
— Justin Ferguson (@JFergusonAU) March 19, 2021
The SEC is not out of the tournament yet and is still being represented by Alabama, LSU, Missouri, in addition to Florida and Arkansas, who won their respective first-round games against Virginia Tech and Colgate today. Missouri, LSU, and Alabama will compete tomorrow in their first-round games.