When I wrote last Sunday that Auburn could lose its final two regular-season games and still be projected as the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, I didn’t actually expect Auburn to lose its final two regular-season games.
But now look!
The Tigers backed Tuesday’s 83-72 loss at Texas A&M with Saturday’s 93-91 overtime loss to Alabama at home, which means Bruce Pearl’s team will take a two-game losing streak into the SEC Tournament. That’s not ideal. True to my word, though, I kept Auburn No. 1 in Sunday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings for what is the 60th consecutive day.
But why, Parrish?
I know some of you are asking that question right now — so let me answer it directly. As I’ve explained many times, Auburn spent November, December, January and February building a body of work so superior to the rest of the sport that we reached a point where the Tigers could literally lose their final two regular-season games and still have college basketball’s best resume, which is what they did and what they still have. Auburn is now 27-4 overall with a 15-4 mark in Quadrant 1. That gives the Tigers at least four more Q1 wins than everybody else and zero losses to anybody ranked outside of the top 20 of the NET.
If you prefer Duke to Auburn, just know that Duke has eight fewer Q1 wins and two more losses to teams ranked outside of the top 20 of the NET. If you prefer Houston to Auburn, just know that Houston has four fewer Q1 wins and one more loss to a team ranked outside of the top 20 of the NET. If you prefer Florida to Auburn, just know that Florida has seven fewer Q1 wins and one more loss to a team ranked outside of the top 20 of the NET.
Do I need to keep going?
Now, if you’ll allow me to backpedal a bit, consistent readers of this space might know that I’ve written multiple times recently that Auburn is a lock to be the No. 1 overall seed on Selection Sunday — and I still believe that’s what the Tigers will be. I’d bet significantly on it. But, in the spirit of transparency, I’m no longer certain the Tigers could lose their first game in the SEC Tournament and hold on to the No. 1 overall seed if Duke or Houston win-out.
Is it possible? Yes, it’s possible.
But it’s important to note that since I first wrote that Auburn could lose out and still be the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Tigers haven’t just lost two games but have also gone from 16 Q1 wins to 15 Q1 wins because Mississippi State dropped out of the top 30 of the NET. In other words, Auburn doesn’t even have as many Q1 wins this Sunday as it had last Sunday because sometimes Q1 wins can become Q2 wins, and vice versa, simply by some computer numbers changing overnight.
(It’s confusing, I know.)
But, no matter how you chop it up, the data still supports Auburn as the team with the sport’s best body of work with seven days left until Selection Sunday. A week from today, we’ll find out for sure whether the Tigers were able to hold on to it. But, for now, in my mind, they still have it.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
2
Illinois
3
Wisconsin
In: Illinois, UCLA
Out: Missouri, Ole Miss
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