On a historic day for Auburn and Alabama in the first-ever No. 1-versus-No. 2 clash between the two schools, the NCAA tournament selection committee showed the Tigers and the Crimson Tide extra love.
The SEC dominated the top 16 beyond Auburn and Alabama as the committee selected six teams from the conference overall. Auburn, Alabama, and Florida all received No. 1 seeds in their respective regions, and Tennessee and Texas A&M received No. 2 seeds while Kentucky received a No. 3 seed.
“Having five of the top six teams being from one conference is equally impressive as it is unusual,” he added.
Duke had the only non-SEC No. 1 seed, and Purdue and Houston had the other two No. 2 seeds. Meanwhile, the remaining three seeds went to Wisconsin, Iowa State, and Arizona. The No. 4 seeds went to Kansas, Michigan, and St. John’s. Much can still change amid the remaining conference games and tournaments across the country before Selection Sunday on March 16.
Regarding the SEC’s prowess, Auburn and Alabama know the toughness of the SEC all too well going into Saturday’s game. The Tigers had wins over ranked teams in Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi State, and Ole Miss alone in conference play. Likewise, the Tide had victories over Kentucky, Texas A&M, Mississippi State, Georgia, Ole Miss, and Oklahoma as ranked teams in SEC play alone before Saturday’s showdown.
Auburn got the job done on the road amid a packed house in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Tigers senior forward Johni Broome led the way with 19 points, and three of his teammates scored in double figures off the bench.
“We were very prepared. Coaches did a great job with the game plan,” Pearl said. “The kids executed early. You’ve got to play well early if you’re going to win on the road.”
“We played well early. As you’d expected, Alabama came storming back, and the place was I’ve never heard Coleman this loud,” Pearl added.
Auburn stormed out to a 9–0 lead behind two Broom three-pointers, but the Tide stuck around the rest of the way. The Tide did it with fast-break points and points in the paint, outscoring the Tigers 59–39 in those areas. Despite the wealth of transition points, there were only 11 turnovers and four steals between the two teams.
“It was a really clean game, which I was pleased about,” Pearl noted. “Nate [Oats] talked to his team about that, because that’s how the No. 1 teams in the country should act. That’s how they should compete. That’s how they should play. I was really pleased with that.”
Despite the committee’s naming of Auburn and Alabama as the top-two seeds and the fanfare of a No. 1 versus No. 2 matchup, Oats wasn’t taking solace in anything after his team’s loss at home. Oats noted the rematch in Auburn on March 8.
“We’ve got better leadership this year. We’re not in full control of our own destiny to win outright,” Oats told reporters afterward. “We are in full control of our own destiny to at least get a tie with the league moving forward, because Auburn’s now a game ahead of us, and we got Auburn at their place. So we’ll see what type of maturity and leadership we have by how we come in on Monday.”
