AUBURN

Auburn basketball's NCAA Tournament résumé for March Madness: Feb. 3

Portrait of Adam Cole Adam Cole
Montgomery Advertiser

Auburn basketball is going on nearly two months of not knowing the sting of defeat.

The top-ranked Tigers had another two-game stretch in the past week, playing LSU and No. 23 Ole Miss on the road, and it came out on top in both. After skating past an opposing set of Tigers for a 13-point victory Wednesday, Auburn broke away late for a 10-point win over the Rebels on Saturday.

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Now, Auburn sits alone in the college basketball landscape in one respect, and with little company in several. It's the only team with fewer than two losses, and it's one of four with 20 wins. No other team has matched its 13 victories against Quad 1 opponents, and it has well-surpassed a previous program record with eight wins over ranked opponents.

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Come March, those items should rate highly in the eyes of the NCAA Tournament selection committee, which looks at several factors in making its assessments, in addition to subjective factors like the "eyeball test." Among them:

  • Record: The team's overall record, conference record, and nonconference record. 
  • Strength of schedule: The strength of the teams the team played against.
  • Head-to-head results: The results of games between the teams being compared.
  • Conference championships: Whether a conference championship was won in the regular season, or tournament. 
  • Common opponents: The results of games against common opponents.
  • Adjusted Net Efficiency (NET): The NCAA's preferred metric measuring a team's overall performance during the regular season.
  • Team Value Index: A results-oriented component of the NET that ranks teams based on who they beat and where they played.
  • Rating Percentage Index (RPI): A formula that ranks teams using a team's winning percentage, opponents' success and opponents' strength of schedule.

Each week, the Montgomery Advertiser will take a look back at the Tigers' previous week and assess their NCAA Tournament résumé. Here's what the latest seven days turned in.

How Auburn basketball fared last week

  • No. 1 Auburn 87, LSU 74 (Jan. 29 at Maravich Center): LSU had one of its best performances of the season, elevating what had been a struggling offense with a red-hot effort from deep. Still, it wasn't enough to beat Auburn, which saw Johni Broome take over in the second half to tally a 26-point, 16-rebound double-double.
  • No. 1 Auburn 92, No. 23 Ole Miss 82 (Feb. 1 at SBJ Pavilion): The Rebels kept it close for much of the game. They let an early lead slip and got within a point of Auburn's lead, but the Tigers saw Broome and Chad Baker-Mazara both contribute heavily in the closing minutes.

Auburn basketball's NET ranking

All rankings entering Monday's games.

  • NET Ranking: No. 1 (No. 1 SEC)
    • Quad 1 record: 12-1
    • Quad 2 record: 2-0
    • Quad 3 record: 2-0
    • Quad 4 record: 4-0

Auburn basketball's KenPom ranking

All rankings entering Monday.

  • Net Rating: +36.47 (No. 1)
  • Offensive efficiency: 130.5 (No. 1)
  • Defensive efficiency: 94.1 (No. 14)

Here's where Auburn sits in other metric rankings:

Auburn basketball's Bracketology projections

  • CBS Sports (as of Jan. 31): Top overall seed, South Region (Atlanta)
    • First-round matchup: 16-seed American/Morehead State
  • ESPN (as of Jan. 31): Top overall seed, South Region (Atlanta)
    • First-round matchup: 16-seed Central Connecticut/Morehead State
  • Fox (as of Jan. 31): Top overall seed, South Region (Atlanta)
    • First-round matchup: 16-seed Omaha/American

Next up for Auburn basketball

  • Matchup: No. 1 Auburn (20-1, 8-0 SEC) vs. Oklahoma (16-5, 3-5)
    • Opponent's latest result: Oklahoma 97, No. 24 Vanderbilt 67 at Lloyd Noble Center (Norman, Okla.)
  • Tipoff: 8 p.m. CST Tuesday; Neville Arena
  • TV/Radio: SEC Network; WLWI FM 92.3 (Montgomery), WGZZ FM 94.3 (Auburn)

Adam Cole is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at[email protected] or on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter,@colereporter.