Houston is the top seed in the Midwest Region, but the Cougars (32-3) will essentially be the road team on Saturday, March 18, when they face ninth-seeded Auburn in the second round of the NCAA tournament at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama. The game will be live streamed on Sling, which offers half off the first month.

The Tigers, after all, will be playing in their home state, just a two-hour drive from their campus in east Alabama. The issue has become such a talking point that the NCAA felt compelled to release a statement explaining how it assembles the brackets.

Auburn (21-12) is thrilled to be playing so close to home, though the players were quick to point out on Friday that they had nothing to do with putting these pairings together.

For Tigers guard Wendell Green Jr., any complaints just sound like ready-made excuses for the Cougars to fall back on if they spring the upset.

Houston appears vulnerable after scraping by 16th-seeded Northern Kentucky in a 63-52 victory in the first round on Thursday, especially when All-American guard Marcus Sasser pulled himself out of the game in the first half because of nagging discomfort with his groin muscle.

Houston’s players shrugged off playing in Auburn’s backyard, stressing that they’ve thrived away from home all season. Indeed, the Cougars are 16-1 in road and neutral-site games, their only loss coming in the AAC final when Sasser sat out.

When is Houston-Auburn?

Auburn and Houston play in the second round of the NCAA tournament at 6:10 p.m. (7:10 p.m. ET) on Saturday, March 18.

Streaming options

SlingTV

SlingTV is one of the cheaper live streaming services. It offers three different channel packages for its users: Sling Orange, Sling Blue and Sling Orange + Blue.

Sling Blue, which is offering half off the $40 a month for the first month, streams TruTV.

What TV channel is game on?

Houston and Auburn will be broadcast on TBS.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.