Is Auburn basketball going to make March Madness?

It has been a year of high highs and low lows for the Auburn basketball team. Some would call this season a rebuilding year due to the loss of Jabari Smith Jr. and Walker Kessler, who were both selected in the first round of the 2022 NBA Draft and have been honored as All Star Rookies during this NBA season.

Nonetheless, it feels like there are several games that the Tigers have lost that they could have (and maybe should have) won. The three-game stretch of Texas A&M, Tennessee, and Alabama saw the Tigers fight their way back to a close score, but then struggle to close out and finish.

In the SEC, however, Auburn basketball is sitting in fifth place, behind Tennessee, Kentucky, Texas A&M, and Alabama. The Tigers’ conference record is 9-6, and the overall record is 19-9. It’s most certainly not a bad season, just one that has been extremely frustrating to watch at some points.

But will the Tigers get into the NCAA Tournament and participate in March Madness? It seems very likely that they do. Just this morning, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi updated his NCAA Bracketology, and has projected Bruce Pearl’s squad to be a 10-seed in West Region with No. 7 Maryland as their first matchup in Sacramento.

Other SEC teams expected to play in the tournament include Alabama (project 1-seed), Tennessee (projected 3-seed), Texas A&M (projected 6-seed), Kentucky (projected 8-seed), Arkansas (projected 8-seed), and Missouri (projected 10-seed). The Tigers beat Arkansas and Missouri, but lost to Tennessee, Alabama, and Texas A&M (twice). They will face Kentucky this weekend, and go head-to-head again with the Tide on March 1 and the Volunteers on March 4.

After Selection Sunday on March 12, the men’s NCAA Tournament will begin with the first four on March 14 and culminate in the NCAA championship game on April 3.