A day after being honored with the highest overall seed in the NCAA tournament, Auburn basketball ranked No. 4 in the final AP poll before the postseason.

Duke remained in the top spot, after winning the ACC Tournament. Houston also stayed at No. 2 after winning the Big 12 tournament. Florida jumped Auburn for the No. 3 spot after winning the SEC tournament.

“We recognize that it’s been a long time since we’ve played Houston and Duke, and which teams have gotten better, we’ll find out,” Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said after Selection Sunday.

“We recognize that — and I’ve been saying this awhile — Florida right now, to me, looks like they’re playing the best basketball of anybody in the country,” Pearl added. “We’re going to 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.”

Auburn fell short in the SEC tournament falling to Tennessee in the semifinal round. Seven SEC teams are ranked in this week’s poll, with Auburn, Florida, Alabama and Tennessee landing in the top 10.

The SEC set a NCAA tournament record with 14 teams representing the conference in the big dance, surpassing the Big East’s 11 bids in 2011.

Auburn’s Round of 64 matchup against Alabama State or Saint Francis will tip off Thursday at 1:50 p.m. The game will be televised on CBS.

Jerry Humphrey III covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Jerryhump3 or email him at [email protected].