Auburn has been selected as a No. 4 seed for the 2024 NCAA Tournament and will face No. 13 seed Yale on Friday in Spokane, Washington in the first round.
Auburn is in the East Region, meaning that Auburn will travel from Spokane, back to Auburn and then Boston should it go to the Sweet 16.
Auburn is joined by No. 12 seed UAB and No. 5 seed San Diego State in Spokane.
Auburn finished the regular season with a 24-7 record and went on to win the SEC Tournament championship Sunday against Florida.
Auburn’s resume was highlighted by no bad losses. Auburn was undefeated against Quadrant 2, 3 and 4 opponents this season. The NCAA defines the quadrants as the following based on a team’s NET ranking...
- Quadrant 1: Home 1-30, Neutral 1-50, Away 1-75
- Quadrant 2: Home 31-75, Neutral 51-100, Away 76-135
- Quadrant 3: Home 76-160, Neutral 101-200, Away 135-240
- Quadrant 4: Home 161-353, Neutral 201-353, Away 241-353
But while Auburn does not have a bad loss, it didn’t have many great wins. Auburn went 3-7 in Quad 1 games. It’s the reason why Auburn’s seed wasn’t any higher despite a strong overall record and good SEC Tournament performance.
The Tigers finished fourth in the SEC in the regular season as one of the most balanced teams in the country. Auburn is top 10 in the country in bench points and bench minutes per game.
Auburn’s defense has been its most consistent trait, among the top three best defenses in America by field goal percentage allowed. Every game Auburn has won has been by double digits.
It is led by leading scorer Johni Broome, but in a testament to Auburn’s depth, Broome plays only 24.8 minutes per game and that’s still the most on the team.
It’s the fifth time Auburn has made the tournament under head coach Bruce Pearl and Auburn’s 13th all-time appearance. Auburn made the 2018 and 2019 tournaments. There was no tournament in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Auburn faced a self-imposed postseason ban in 2021. Auburn has since made it into March Madness in 2022, 2023 and now 2024.
The No. 4 seed is tied for Auburn’s third-best placement in the field. Auburn was a No. 1 seed in 1999 and a No. 2 seed in 2022. Auburn was also a No. 4 seed in 2018.
Matt Cohen covers sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at mcohen@al.com