Over the weekend, the Auburn Tigers suffered a heartbreaking loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide and it's a game that people are still talking about. At the time, the Tigers were ranked No. 1 in the country but in the new AP Top 25 poll, Bruce Pearl and Co. have dropped to No. 3.
As expected, Duke is now the top team in the country, which is a bummer for a lot of people. Come this weekend, though, Selection Sunday will arrive and the expectation is now that the Blue Devils are well on their way to being the No. 1 overall seed. If you ask Dick Vitale, though, he doesn't think that should be the case. Nope, he thinks that Auburn should still be the top team out there for the Big Dance:
In the new @AP_Top25 most likely @DukeMBB will be the new #1 at 28 -3 but I believe due the strength of the @SEC & 15 Quad wins the Selection Committee will have @AuburnMBB as the overall # 1 seed .How d?oes @ESPNLunardi Mr Bracketology feel ?
— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) March 9, 2025
Dick Vitale is convinced Auburn should be the No. 1 overall seed for the NCAA Tournament
Vitale's logic for this? It's simple. The SEC has been unreal as a whole this campaign, easily being the most impressive conference in all of college basketball. It's been a down year for the ACC, with Duke having a much easier schedule than the Tigers.
Auburn is going to look to make a statement in the SEC Tournament too and you better believe that Johni Broome is motivated to power this team to a title. The setback against the Crimson Tide was rough, especially with Chad Baker-Mazara making countless headlines due to his absurd elbow.
People are still calling for him to be suspended for at least a game, but it's up in the air if that happens or not. Regardless, Auburn is going to be well positioned to compete not only for an SEC title crown, but also the natty as well.
Will the program's attempt to win the National Championship come as the No. 1 overall seed? It doesn't look likely now, but Vitale is going to hope the NCAA Committee gets things right. Plenty of other people have the exact same mindset.