Auburn Tigers’ Difficult Road Through the SEC Tournament

Despite losing their final two games and going 27-4 in the regular season, the Auburn Tigers narrowly kept the No. 1 seed. They finished with the same record as the Florida Gators. But with one more win in conference play, the Tigers got the No. 1 seed and the Gators got the No. 2 seed. With everything settled, the SEC Tournament is ready to go and the Tigers know who their potential future matchups are.

The Tigers will get a double bye as the first seed.  The first round of the tournament on the Tigers side features the 16-seed South Carolina taking on the nine-seed Arkansas. While Arkansas is likely the favorite in the first matchup. However, the Gamecocks won big in the regular season, winning 72-53 in Columbia. Whichever team makes it into the second round will meet the eight-seed Ole Miss. Ole Miss finished the season with a loss against Florida in Gainesville, Fla. Ole Miss would likely be favorites against either South Carolina or Arkansas as they beat both teams in the regular season.

If that were to be the case, the Tigers’ first game would be against the Ole Miss Rebels in the quarterfinals. The Rebels played the Tigers twice this season and they lost both games. The Tigers beat them for a combined 40 points across both games. The Tigers should win this game.

Through the other side of Auburn’s half, there is the 5-seed Texas A&M Aggies who will likely advance to the quarterfinals against the four-seed Tennessee Volunteers. The Vols versus Aggies matchup would be one of the top matchups in the tournament. Looking over the season, Tennessee won the only matchup between the two teams, winning 77-69 in College Station, Texas. The winner of this game will take on the Tigers should they beat Ole Miss.

On the bottom half of the bracket, three teams have a chance to make it through their side and meet Auburn in the SEC Tournament Championship game. Firstly, the Kentucky Wildcats are the six-seed. The Tigers dominated the Wildcats at Rupp Arena, beating them 94-78 just a few weeks ago. The second team would be the three-seed Alabama Crimson Tide.

The Tigers finished the regular season losing at Neville Arena to the Crimson Tide. However, the Tigers beat Alabama earlier in the season in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The final team the Tigers will have to worry about is the two-seed Florida Gators. The Gators and the Auburn Tigers met only once in the regular season, with the Gators winning at Neville Arena 90-81. W

hether the Gators or Crimson Tide are the team that makes it to play the Tigers in the SEC Tournament Championship game, the Tigers will have a very difficult path considering how competitive the SEC is this year.