No. 1 Overall Seed Auburn Has Glowing Resumé

NCAA tournament No. 1 overall seed Auburn landed in a familiar spot for the opening round of the South Regional, although one that normally is not particicularly welcoming.

The Tigers (29-5) will begin tournament play in Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky., the home of Southeastern Conference nemesis Kentucky. That was not a problem in the regular season, however, as the Tigers took a decisive 94-78 victory at Rupp on March 1.

“We sort of feel like that (No.1 overall seed) makes us the regular-season national champion,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. “(But) it is a tournament sport … if we don’t win the national championship, we’ll be disappointed.”

Auburn’s second-round game also could be Kentucky-centric. If the Tigers beat Alcorn State/Saint Francis (Pa.) in their opener, they could find themselves playing No. 8 seed Louisville in the second round. Louisville and No. 9 seed Creighton play the first game of the tournament earlier Thursday in Rupp.

Auburn has more losses than any other tournament’s No. 1 seeds — Duke (31-3), Houston (30-4) and Florida (30-4) — but it has the beefiest resumé.

Led by unanimous All-American forward Johni — that’s jon-EYE — Broome, the Tigers are 16-5 in Quad 1 games, with two more victories than Houston, five more than Florida and seven more than Duke.

Broome, a 6-10 senior, leads Auburn in scoring (18.9 points per game), rebounding (10.6) and assists (3.1). He and Duke forward Cooper Flagg are considered the only real candidates for college player of the year.

Auburn played the second most difficult schedule in Division I, according to KenPom, and is ranked fourth in adjusted efficiency margin. The Tigers’ losses are to Duke, Florida, Texas A&M, Alabama and Tennessee, all seeded fourth or better in the tournament.

The Tigers enter with one caveat. No team has won the NCAA tournament while entering with three losses in its last four games, and the Tigers have lost three of four, including a home loss to Alabama in the regular-season finale and a loss to Tennessee in the SEC tournament semifinals.

“We’re gonna take it one game at a time, but obviously these would be the highest goals I think I’ve ever had heading into the NCAA Tournament,” said Pearl, who has been a head coach at Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Marquette and Tennessee.

“I’m more of a 12-seed guy in my whole career than I am a 1 seed.”

Other Top Seeds in the South

No. 2 Michigan State, No. 3 Iowa State and No. 4 Texas A&M are the other top seeds in the South. If form holds, that would set up a rematch between Auburn and A&M in the Sweet Sixteen in Atlanta on March 28.

The Tigers lost their only regular-season meeting with A&M 83-72 on March 4, part of its late-season slump. Because a record 14 SEC teams earned berths, all four brackets are loaded with potential conference rematches.

Ole Miss is the No. 6 seed in the South, on the other side of the bracket, and would not meet either Auburn or Texas A&M until the regional final.

Players to watch

Johni Broome, 6-10, Auburn

Broome was the SEC player of the year in his third season at Auburn after leading Morehead State to the 2022 NCAA tournament. Broome has 16 double-doubles, sixth in Division I. Among tournament teams, only Baylor transfer Norchad Omier (21) has more.

Ryan Kalkbrenner, 7-1, Creighton

Kalkbrenner was named the Big East defensive player of year for the fourth consecutive season, joining Georgetown’s Patrick Ewing as the only players to accomplish that feat. Kalkbrenner has 89 blocked shots this season, third in the nation, and has 395 in his career.

Chucky Hepburn, 6-2, Louisville

Hepburn blossomed in his first season with the all-portal Cardinals after transferring from Wisconsin, almost doubling his scoring average to 16.2 points with a career-high shooting percentage. He leads the ACC with 2.5 steals per game.

Jase Richardson, 6-3, Michigan State

Freshman Richardson, son of former Michigan State and NBA star Jason Richardson, scored a season-high 29 points in his first career start against Oregon on Feb. 8, sparking the Spartans’ current 9-2 run. He averaged 17.3 points and 4.8 rebounds and made 14 of 29 three-point attempts in those last 11 games.

South Regional schedule

^{(Games in Cleveland, Denver, Milwaukee, Lexington, Ky.)}

First/second round (all times ET)

March 20

No. 8 Louisville vs No. 9 Creighton, Lexington, 12:15, CBS

No. 1 Auburn vs. No. 16 Alabama State, Lexington, 2:50, CBS

No. 4 Texas A&M vs. No. 13 Yale, Denver, 7:25, TBS

No. 5 Michigan vs. No. 12 UC-San Diego, Denver, 10, TBS

March 21

No. 3 Iowa State vs No. 14 Lipscomb, Milwaukee, 1:30, TNT

No. 6 Ole Miss vs No. 11 North Carolina, Milwaukee, 4:05, TNT

No. 7 Marquette vs No. 10 New Mexico, Cleveland, 7:25, TBS

No. 2 Michigan State vs No. 15 Bryant, Cleveland, 10 pm, TBS

March 22

Auburn/Alabama State winner vs Louisville/Creighton winner

Texas A&M/Yale winner vs Michigan/UC-San Diego winner

March 23

Michigan State/Bryant winner vs Marquette/New Mexico winner

Iowa State/Lipscomb winner vs Ole Miss/North Carolina winner

Sweet Sixteen

^{(Games in Atlanta)}

March 28

Regional Finals

March 30