Auburn basketball fans react to facing Jacksonville State in March Madness first round
Auburn basketball will be playing less than a four-hour drive away from the Plains in Greenville, South Carolina as they ended up in the Midwest Region of the NCAA March Madness bracket.
Their opponent will be one that many Tiger fans may have a personal connection to…the Jacksonville State Gamecocks.
Located an hour northeast of Birmingham, Jacksonville is home to the 2021-22 ASUN champions, though their inclusion in March Madness is marred by controversy considering Bellarmine won the ASUN Tournament and were a victim of NCAA ineligibility rules stemming from their probation period upon making the jump from the Division II ranks. JSU was the regular-season ASUN champion and got in on a technicality.
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Here’s how the Auburn family reacted to the first-round matchup against the in-state Gamecocks:
The last big athletic event that I remember involving Auburn and Jacksonville State gave me lasting emotional scarring.
— BARNING HARD (3-9) (@IAMBARNINGHARD) March 13, 2022
YES! Auburn a 2-seed in Greenville, SC against Jacksonville State, the team that shouldn’t be in the tournament. #wareagle
— War Blogle (@WarBlogle) March 13, 2022
.@AuburnMBB better be aware of Jacksonville State. Ray Harper is the Jax St head coach, and when he was at @KWCMBB and Bruce Pearl was at USI, Harper owned him with a 13-4 record
— Ryan Lemond (@ryanlemond) March 13, 2022
Bad day to be Jacksonville State
— BigBarnerBrand 🥶 (@BigBarnerBrand) March 13, 2022
Jacksonville State pic.twitter.com/nm7kFm6lnX
— Ben (@BenDupreeJR) March 13, 2022
Friday at 11:40 A.M. CST, Auburn basketball head coach Bruce Pearl will have a chance to best his old rival, current JSU head coach Ray Harper, from their days squaring off in Division II’s Great Lakes Valley Conference when Pearl was the USI HC and Harper was with Kentucky Wesleyan.
The BonSecours Wellness Arena will play host to the action. Auburn enter the #2-#15 matchup as a 16.5-point favorite and will look to punch their ticket to the Round of 32 against either Miami or USC.