Wendell Green Jr. set his expectations with a tweet shortly after Sunday evening’s selection show.

Auburn (20-12) drew a No. 9 seed in the Midwest Region, but the Tigers got a fortunate break during the bracket reveal: They’re opening-round matchup against eighth-seeded Iowa (19-13) will be in Birmingham, just a short trip up the road for Bruce Pearl and his program.

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So, after the full field of 68 was revealed, Green took to Twitter with a challenge for Auburn’s fans: “Let’s turn Legacy Arena into the Jungle.” In a season full of close calls that more often than not did not fall Auburn’s way, the Tigers finally had the pendulum swing back in their favor on Selection Sunday, with a chance to play their NCAA Tournament opener just 112 miles from their homecourt.

“Look, we’ve had two champions that went to California (in 2018) and then Utah and Kansas and then Minneapolis (in 2019),” Pearl said. “I think with the pod system, I think they do the best they can to not have these teams travel too far, and we obviously caught a break here. The question is: Can we take advantage of it?”

Birmingham was the most favorable sub-regional site Auburn could have hoped for out of the eight options available in this year’s tournament. That the Tigers landed their despite an uneven season that saw them drop nine of their final 13 games — six of them by five points or fewer — is quite the consolation for Pearl and his team as it heads into its fourth March Madness appearance in the last five postseasons.

While Alabama fans have likely accrued the bulk of all-session passes for the opening-round games, given the Tide have been projected as the top seed in Birmingham for much of the season, the Tigers still expect their share of fans in what could be a home-away-home for the team this week at Legacy Arena.

“Just another home game,” senior wing Allen Flanigan said Monday. “Our fans here, they travel with us. Being in Birmingham, two and a half hours away from home, I’m sure it’ll feel just like a home game for us.”

The opportunity to play so close to home and in a favorable environment is one that Auburn isn’t taking lightly after an exhausting and oftentimes grueling season.

Between the program’s preseason exhibition tour of Israel, its trip to Mexico for the Cancun Challenge, a two-game West Coast swing and even a trip to West Virginia for the Big 12/SEC Challenge, Pearl was quick to mention Sunday and again Monday that his team has racked up 31,000 miles of travel this. For comparison, the Tigers logged just 11,000 miles of travel a year ago, when they rose to No. 1 in the AP poll for the first time in school history and earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

After stacking up the frequent flyer miles, with plenty of late-night return trips, the prospect of a short bus ride to Birmingham came as a relief to the Tigers when their name flashed on the screen during Sunday’s selection show.

“That’s kind of like our backyard,” center Johni Broome said. “We’re probably going to have a good fanbase there, a lot of people supporting us, so that’s always good to be somewhere close like that.”

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It also helps that Birmingham has treated Auburn well, historically and during Pearl’s tenure. The program is 4-0 in games played in Birmingham under Pearl, including a 3-0 record at Legacy Arena. Auburn’s three prior appearances at the arena include a win against Middle Tennessee State in 2017, one against UAB in 2018 and another against Saint Louis in 2019. The Tigers also have a true road win against UAB at Bartow Arena under their belt during the Pearl era.

This week will mark the Tigers’ first game at Legacy Arena since it underwent a substantial makeover a couple years ago, though the players experienced it from the stands earlier this season when they had a team outing to a Birmingham Squadron game.

Now they’ll get to experience it on the court against a dangerous Iowa offense in what could amount to a de-facto home game for Auburn on the biggest stage. That, paired with a week off since its last game in the SEC Tournament, presents a refreshing turn of good fortune for an Auburn team that Pearl conceded is, frankly, fatigued from eight months of extensive travel — something the ninth-year coach believes has contributed in some part to the Tigers’ less-than-stellar record in close games late.

“The team had to get up off the mat a lot this year, and yet we pretty much were able to — almost every time,” Pearl said. “…I think the guys will be fresh and excited about playing now. I think there will be some new wind in their sails.”

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