Auburn basketball's NCAA Tournament résumé, bracketology projections before Selection Sunday

[ASFN Admin]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Bruce Pearl said as much Saturday: It's time for Auburn basketball to focus on the now.

"I can hardly wait till next weekend to start playing again," Pearl said after the Tigers' semifinal loss to 4-seed Tennessee in the SEC Tournament's semifinal round. "Let's get to Sunday, find out where we're going, find out who we're playing and let's get back to work. I'm looking forward, not back."

The Tigers lost to the Volunteers a game ahead of Sunday's SEC Tournament championship, but it'll be hard for them to complain come the evening's Selection Sunday, in which they have effectively wrapped up the top overall seed in this year's NCAA Tournament.

"I believe that this team has from start to finish done enough to be the No. 1 overall seed in this tournament," Pearl said. "Our résumé is historically one of the strongest résumés in the history of college basketball, with the number of Quad 1 wins we've had. Certainly, losing to Tennessee, as a team ranked 5th or 6th in the country, shouldn't knock us off that spot."

It'll be hard for the NCAA Tournament selection committee to argue against that. Deciding the field of 68, the committee looks at several factors in making its assessments, in addition to subjective factors like the "eyeball test." Among them:

• Record: The team's overall record, conference record and nonconference record.
• Strength of schedule: The strength of the teams the team played against.
• Head-to-head results: The results of games between the teams being compared.
• Conference championships: Whether a conference championship was won in the regular season, or tournament.
• Common opponents: The results of games against common opponents.
• Adjusted Net Efficiency (NET): The NCAA's preferred metric measuring a team's overall performance during the regular season.
• Team Value Index: A results-oriented component of the NET that ranks teams based on who they beat and where they played.
• Rating Percentage Index (RPI): A formula that ranks teams using a team's winning percentage, opponents' success and opponents' strength of schedule.

Each week, the Montgomery Advertiser has taken a look back at the Tigers' previous week and assessed their NCAA Tournament résumé, bracketology projections and where they stand in the scope of March Madness.

Here's what the final seven days turned in:

How Auburn basketball fared last week​

• 1-seed Auburn 62, 8-seed Ole Miss 57 (March 14 at Bridgestone Arena): Johni Broome lodged a program-recored 18th double-double into his 23-point, 15-rebound day, and it was enough to secure an Auburn win.
• 4-seed Tennessee 70, 1-seed Auburn 65 (March 15 at Bridgestone Arena): While Broome maintained his scored output with another 23 points, the Tigers weren't able to get what they needed beyond him.

Auburn basketball's NET ranking​

All rankings entering Monday.

• NET Ranking: No. 2 (No. 1 SEC)
  • Quad 1 record: 16-4
  • Quad 2 record: 6-0
  • Quad 3 record: 2-0
  • Quad 4 record: 4-0

Auburn basketball's KenPom ranking​

All rankings entering Monday.

• Net Rating: +35.03 (No. 4)
• Offensive efficiency: 128.5 (No. 1)
• Defensive efficiency: 93.5 (No. 12)

Here's where Auburn sits in other metric rankings:

• BPI: No. 3
• EvanMiya: No. 4
• Haslametrics: No. 3
• T-Rank: No. 3

Auburn basketball's Bracketology projections​

• CBS Sports (as of March 15): Top overall seed, South Region (Atlanta)
  • First-round matchup: 16-seed St. Francis/Iona
• ESPN (as of March 15): Top overall seed, South Region (Atlanta)
  • First-round matchup: 16-seed Jackson State/St. Francis
• Fox (as of March 15): Top overall seed, South Region (Atlanta)
  • First-round matchup: 16-seed Jackson State/St. Francis

Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at [email protected] or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @colereporter.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn basketball's bracketology projections ahead of Selection Sunday

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