Sunday night it was revealed that Auburn basketball is the No. 1 overall seed in March Madness for the first time in history. The Tigers were placed in the South region, meaning that their first two matchups will be played in Lexington, Kentucky.
The Tigers' first opponent has yet to be decided, though. Tonight, Alabama State and Saint Francis will play in a First Four game to determine the 16-seed in Auburn's region.
The Alabama State Hornets finished with a 19-5 overall record and have won 10 of their last 11 games. The Hornets are making their first tournament appearance since 2011, and their fifth appearance in program history.
The Saint Francis Red Flash finished with a 16-17 overall record and are riding a six game winning streak. It is the team's first tournament appearance since 1991 and their second appearance in program history.
The two teams will face off from Dayton, Ohio, at 5:40 p.m. central time, and the game will be broadcast on TruTV.
Auburn basketball will face the winner of the matchup, and if they win their first game they will go on to play the winner of Louisville vs. Creighton. Then, the Tigers will head to the second weekend in Atlanta, but head coach Bruce Pearl says getting that far is not a guarantee.
"I'm usually the 12-seed, right?" said Pearl, per Auburn Undercover. "I've been a 12-seed my whole life. So to be the No. 1 seed, I'm not very comfortable with this. Or I've been the 8-9 going up against the 1. So I recognized what a challenging second game that could be, either against Creighton or against Louisville. We've gotta take care of business first and win the first game against Alabama State or Saint Francis. But it's not going to be a no-brainer getting to the second weekend."
The Tigers' first game will be at 1:50 p.m. on Thursday.