Auburn basketball

No. 2 seed Auburn heads into the NCAA Tournament with just one player who has appeared in March Madness.

This year’s Tigers are short on postseason experience, with center Walker Kessler the only scholarship player who has played in the NCAA Tournament — and that was just one game as a freshman last season at North Carolina. Kessler played 13 minutes and scored two points in an opening-round loss to Wisconsin. The Tigers’ 2019 team, which made a run to the program’s first-ever Final Four and came within seconds of playing for the national title, had no shortage of experience. Pearl has yet to broach the topic with his team; he didn’t bring it up last week, but it’s sure to lead to conversations this week as the Tigers eye another deep NCAA Tournament run. It’s one game at a time. Now, just being part of it and being in one, it’s crazy. “It’s still a basketball game. The title game was a matchup of No. 1 seeds, with Duke beating Wisconsin for the national championship. Cardwell loved watching the NCAA Tournament; he’d tune in to every game he could, glued to his television during those marathon March (and early April) days. “Since we’re No. 2, I hate underdogs from now on.” The Tigers are the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region, and they’ll open play Friday at 11:40 a.m. CT against 15th-seeded Jacksonville State in Greenville, S.C. Dylan Cardwell couldn’t help but smile as he recalled one of his first times filling out a March Madness bracket. “It’s kind of like watching the Super Bowl then being part of it,” Cardwell said.

With the 2022 NCAA Tournament about ready to tip-off, you can challenge the Auburn Wire staff in our bracket challenge.

This year is the first year that the Auburn Tigers return to March Madness since their Final Four run in the 2019 season. Do you think you have what it takes to beat our staff? Now is the chance to prove it with our Auburn Wire Bracket Challenge and it is free.

A look at the Auburn Tigers in the polls is featured heading into their opening NCAA Tournament game.

The other SEC team in the coaches poll is Arkansas at 18th with 272 points. In the coaches poll the top four teams are the same as the AP rankings with Gonzaga getting 54 first place votes and 799 points. The last matchup came during the 2013-14 schedule, the season prior to Coach Bruce Pearl's arrival on the Plains. Auburn, which was coached by Tony Barbee, won that matchup 78-54 at Auburn Arena. Gonzaga remained No. 1 with 54 first place ballots from the AP voters and 1,518 points. AUBURN, Alabama–The Auburn basketball team will head into its Friday game in the opening round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament ranked eighth in the AP Top 25 poll. The Razorbacks have 578 poll points.