Auburn holds serve at No. 2 in Week 7 AP Poll

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ATLANTA, GEORGIA – DECEMBER 14: Auburn Tigers celebrates against the Ohio State Buckeyes during the second half in the Holiday Hoopsgiving Atlanta at State Farm Arena on December 14, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

It seems as if the Auburn Tigers are going to have a difficult time improving to the No. 1 ranking in the AP Poll.

Despite another undefeated week featuring a historically dominant victory over a Power 4 program, Auburn was unable to usurp top ranked Tennessee in this week’s AP Poll. Although the Volunteers did not slip up either, Rick Barnes’s squad did barely escape an upset in Champaign, Illinois against an unranked Fighting Illini team, needing a last-second bucket to earn a 66-64 victory. To the Volunteer’s credit, they did earn two victories this week while Bruce Pearl’s Tigers only earned one.

Although Auburn’s ranking may disgruntle some fans, the Tigers are still ranked in an excellent spot heading into the final weeks of the non-conference schedule. It is also a distinct possibility Johni Broome and company can force their way into the No. 1 spot with a victory over Purdue this Saturday, although the Boilermakers fell all the way down to No. 16 in the latest AP Poll following a surprisingly poor home loss at the hands of  Texas A&M.

For what it’s worth, Auburn does currently hold the No. 1 overall NET Ranking, which holds the most weight in terms of how the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee views a program heading into March. Auburn’s 5 ‘Quadrant 1’ victories are tied with Memphis, who Auburn defeated in the Maui Invitational Championship, for the most in the country.

Other than Auburn and Tennessee, three other SEC programs earned spots in the top 10 of the AP Poll. Kentucky (4), Alabama (6), and Florida (7) all rank among the top teams in the nation while Texas A&M (12), Oklahoma (14), Ole Miss (17) also represent the conference in the top 25. Oklahoma and Florida are the only remaining unbeaten teams in the conference,…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/auburn-holds-serve-no-2-140018222.html

Author : Auburn Wire

Publish date : 2024-12-17 14:00:00

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