Where Auburn's resume, NCAA Tournament projections stand with 5 weeks left

Where Auburn’s resume, NCAA Tournament projections stand with 5 weeks left

Auburn’s program-record run in the top-25 is over, but the Tigers still find themselves in the driver’s seat for another NCAA Tournament berth under coach Bruce Pearl.

Auburn’s 46-43 loss at Tennessee on Saturday was enough to drop the Tigers from the latest AP poll after 32 consecutive weeks in the rankings. Despite the disappointment of that streak ending, Auburn was encouraged by its performance on the road against one of the nation’s top teams and believes it’s capable of exceeding expectations over the final month of the regular season and leading into the postseason.

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The Tigers are still safely in the field of 68 as of Tuesday morning, with eight games remaining on their regular-season schedule. Five of those remaining games are set up as Quad 1 opportunities for Auburn on its NCAA Tournament resume, while two more are Quad 2 matchups. There’s plenty of opportunity for Pearl’s team to bolster its March Madness resume over these final four weeks of the regular season, as well as in next month’s SEC Tournament leading into Selection Sunday.

“Well, if you love the grind, which I do, then you love the position that you’re in right now,” Pearl said.

For the rest of the season, AL.com will take a weekly snapshot of Auburn’s NCAA Tournament resume, with a look at the team’s record by quadrant, as well as the latest projections for the Tigers in the field of 68. Here’s where things stand with about five weeks until the start of the NCAA Tournament:

Auburn’s season at a glance:

Overall record: 17-6

SEC record: 7-3 (fourth in the league)

AP poll rank: unranked (program-record 32 consecutive weeks ranked in the top 25 snapped)

KenPom: 24th (59th in offensive efficiency, 12th in defensive efficiency)

NET ranking: 31st

Home record: 11-1

Road record: 4-4

Neutral-site record: 2-1

Quadrant 1 record: 1-4

Quadrant 2 record: 6-2

Quadrant 3 record: 6-0

Quadrant 4 record: 4-0

Best resume win: Jan. 7 vs. Arkansas, 72-59, at Neville Arena (Quadrant 1 win)

Worst resume loss: Jan. 3 at Georgia, 76-64 (Quadrant 2 loss)

Strength of record: 24th

NET Strength of schedule: 62nd

The week ahead: at Texas A&M on Tuesday at 6 p.m. (Quad 1 opportunity), at home against No. 3 Alabama on Saturday at 1 p.m. (Quad 1 opportunity).

Latest NCAA Tournament projections (as of Feb. 7)

Bracket Matrix, which weighs projections from 97 expert brackets, has Auburn projected as a No. 7 seed in the field. The Tigers appear on all 97 projected brackets.

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi projects Auburn as a No. 8 seed in the East Region in his latest bracket projection. Lunardi’s bracket has Auburn facing North Carolina in the opening round in Birmingham in what would be a rematch of the teams 2019 Sweet 16 matchup. His projection would also have Auburn potentially playing No. 1 seed Houston in the second round.

CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm currently projects Auburn as a No. 9 seed in the West Region, with the Tigers playing eighth-seeded Maryland in the opening round in Birmingham. This projection also sets up a potential second-round matchup with No. 1 seed Texas.

Bracket WAG’s Shelby Mast has Auburn as a No. 7 seed in the South Region, with the Tigers facing 10th-seeded North Carolina in the opening round.

Bart Torvik’s T-Rank projection has Auburn as a No. 7 seed in the field.

Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.