According to most NCAA Tournament projections, Auburn basketball is right on the bubble to earn an at-large bid. The Tigers finish the regular season at a rough 16-15 (7-11 SEC) record and are relying on a brutal strength of schedule in their attempt to make the field.
ESPN currently has Auburn as the final team in the field to earn an at-large bid. That’d mean the Tigers would have to play in a play-in game ahead of the Round of 64 if that projection became reality.
After Auburn concluded the regular season with a 96-84 loss to Alabama on the road, Tigers head coach and former Tennessee basketball player Steven Pearl made his case for why the team should make the tournament.
“We’ve put ourselves in obviously a difficult situation, but also a great situation,” Pearl said. “We play in the best league in college basketball. It’s the deepest league in college basketball. We have five of some of the best wins in the country. We have the best win in college basketball at Florida. If you look at our quality wins and you look at the other teams on the bubble, I don’t think those teams get those wins. I just don’t. So we put ourselves to be in position to be considered.
“I think our resume stands up against anybody’s. I’m not sure what the number would be tonight after the game, I don’t know if anybody has KenPom pulled up. I’d imagine that we finished one or two in strength of schedule overall, which is what the committee asked us to do. We scheduled and played against some of the best teams in college basketball, we went 2-2 against the conference champions of the SEC, the Big East, the Big Ten and the Big 12 and we didn’t play any of those games at home.
“We have enough quality wins to be deserving to be in this Tournament but we understand that we’ve got to go to Nashville, and we’ve got to make a run just so we don’t have to be sweating it out on Sunday. The urgency is this could be your last game if you don’t find a way to win these ones moving forward.”
Steven Pearl on Auburn’s resume and the urgency needed in Nashville:
“We have enough quality wins to be deserving to be in this Tournament but we understand that we’ve got to go to Nashville and we’ve got to make a run just so we don’t have to be sweating it out on Sunday.” pic.twitter.com/oFNvxRwrrw
— Trevor Denton (@trevordenton37) March 8, 2026
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As Pearl alluded to, KenPom has Auburn as playing the second-toughest schedule in the country. The Tigers are ranked as the No. 39 team in the country on the site, with the No. 12 offense and No. 122 defense.
Other teams on the bubble, according to ESPN, that are projected to make the field include Texas A&M, Texas, Missouri, UCF, Santa Clara, SMU and VCU. Teams on the outside looking in are projected to be Indiana, Virginia Tech, New Mexico, Cincinnati, California, Stanford, San Diego State and Seton Hall. Miami (OH) is also in the mix, but projected to win the MAC and earn an automatic bid.
Auburn can help itself in the SEC Tournament. The Tigers are seeded at 12 and will open with 13-seed Mississippi State on Wednesday. If Auburn wins that game, it’ll face 5-seed Tennessee, which could play spoiler and potentially knock its SEC rival out of the tournament.
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