Worst teams to make March Madness: How 16-loss Auburn would make dubious NCAA Tournament history

Worst teams to make March Madness: How 16-loss Auburn would make dubious NCAA Tournament history originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

What a difference a year can make.

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Selection Sunday was a celebration for Auburn in 2025, when the Tigers secured the No. 1 overall seed and set the stage for a run to the Final Four. This time, Auburn — now coached by the son of the coach who revived the program — is going into Selection Sunday with its NCAA Tournament fate completely up in the air.

After an SEC Tournament loss to Tennessee, Auburn coach Steven Pearl said his team should hear its name called on Sunday.

“Our guys have some of the best wins in college basketball, and this team deserves to be in the tournament,” he told reporters. “It’s a team that can win games in the tournament, and I think they’ve done enough, ultimately, to have their name called on Selection Sunday.”

If Auburn is going to be a tournament team, however, it’s going to require the selection committee to break precedent.

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Here’s what you need to know about Auburn’s record and where it would rank among the worst to reach the NCAA Tournament.

SN AWARDS: All-America team | Boozer Player of the Year | Lloyd Coach of the Year 

Auburn basketball record 2026

Auburn enters Selection Sunday with a 17-16 record on the season, barely sitting above .500 through 33 games.

The Tigers went 7-11 in SEC play and were 10-5 in non-conference play, with losses to Houston, Purdue, Arizona and Michigan.

Some. including Pearl, have made the argument that Auburn should not be punished for putting together a difficult non-conference schedule. After all the Tigers only narrowly lost to Houston, which is a projected No. 2 seed.

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Others argue that simply scheduling tough non-conference games isn’t enough, particularly when losses to Purdue, Arizona and Michigan all came by a margin of more than 25 points. Auburn has wins over Florida…

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Publish date : 2026-03-14 08:30:00

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