Auburn hasn’t often been tested like this in its wins, but in a 73-66 victory over Mississippi State in the SEC quarterfinals, Auburn did something it hasn’t done all year: win a close game.

Every Auburn win had been by double digits. Until Saturday.

And as a result, it will now head to the SEC championship game. Tipoff for the game is set for noon central time, and will be aired on ESPN.

Auburn now has a 26-7 overall record with the win. It’s the fifth Auburn season ever with 26 or more wins.

Head coach Bruce Pearl’s team will find out their opponent for the SEC championship game when Florida and Texas A&M play in the following game.

In a week full of upsets in Nashville, Auburn keeps surviving.

Here are three takeaways:

Boom or bust in the SEC Tournament for Auburn

Auburn will head to the SEC Championship game for the first time since 2019. That also was the last year Auburn won an SEC Tournament game at all before 2024.

Auburn lost its first game of the tournament in both 2022 and 2023. It didn’t play because of a self-imposed ban in 2021. There was no tournament in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

So when Auburn wins, it wins a few. And it’s been the one team adverse to a week of upsets, thus far at least.

The Tigers went to bed last night as the top remaining seed. No. 1 Tennessee, No. 2 Kentucky and No. 3 Alabama all lost on Friday while No. 4 Auburn beat No. 5 South Carolina by 31.

It will head to the title game tomorrow as a likely favorite over whoever wins between Florida and Texas A&M — albeit Texas A&M gave Auburn one of its toughest games at home this year and Florida routed Auburn in Gainesville.

Auburn’s only two SEC Tournament titles are in 2019 and 1985.

How was Auburn’s resume impacted?

Well, not much on its own.

This was a Quad 1 game for Auburn. Mississippi State is 32nd in the NET rankings as of Saturday morning.

Auburn got its second Quad 1 win of the year, moving to a 2-7 record against the top echelon of opponents.

It doesn’t change much in the eyes of Auburn’s generation perception since 2-7 is still not a great record against Quad 1, but getting a second Quad 1 win — and a possible chance to get another tomorrow — solidifies Auburn’s status with a little more than 24 hours before the March Madness bracket is revealed.

The neutral court win over Mississippi State joins the home win against Alabama as Auburn’s two Quad 1 wins.

Auburn is still going to be a projected No. 4 seed with the win. It’s the downside, so to speak, to Auburn not having the chance to get a second chance at Tennessee today. And with so many other upsets across the tournament, Auburn won’t get another shot at a national title-contending team tomorrow, either.

So while chances for Quad 1 wins are there, they may not be against teams with enough name recognition to boost Auburn up to a No. 3 seed.

Mississippi State shows why Auburn’s NCAA Tournament matchup matters

Few teams this season have given Auburn’s offense as much trouble as Mississippi State. Auburn’s fewest points in a game this season (58) came in a loss to the Bulldogs in Starkville. At Neville Arena, Auburn scored 78 points against Mississippi State — one of its smaller home outputs.

And in a very similar fashion to what Mississippi State did to beat top-seeded Tennessee on Friday, head coach Chris Jans’ team came out as the aggressor against Auburn and forced six Auburn turnovers in the first 13 possessions.

Auburn started shooting 1-6 from the field. Mississippi State completely dominated the glass in the first half, out-rebounding Auburn 22-10 overall and 12-3 in offensive rebounds.

But the Bulldogs couldn’t do that for 40 minutes. Auburn adjusted, and won the rebounding battle 19-15 in the second half.

But that type of style from Jans’ team at least in the first half has often been the one to beat Auburn. Mississippi State did it themselves. So did Florida.

Pearl said matchups matter when he beat South Carolina because that was a good matchup for Auburn. This is more indicative of why the bad matchups matter too.

And that could be something to pay attention to when Auburn gets its NCAA Tournament draw tomorrow. If Auburn runs into a double-digit seed like Samford without much size, that’s a more ideal matchup.

But if it finds itself against a team with size or physicality, that could be problematic. Whether that be a possible No. 5 seed like, say, San Diego State which plays excellent defense, or a double-digit seed that can match Auburn inside.

Certainly Auburn has proven it can win those games, and every Auburn win has come by double-digits, but those have been Auburn’s hardest to come by.

What Auburn did get in this game was battle-tested. Auburn hasn’t played a ton of close games this year. The closest games it has played, it has lost.

On Saturday, Auburn found a way to win one. It’s a team that can adapt.

Matt Cohen covers sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected]