Auburn became the latest high seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament to succumb to the madness of March.
4-seed Auburn was upset by 13-seed Yale in a 78-76 affair at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena in Spokane, Wash. on Friday night.
Bruce Pearl’s squad held a 68-58 advantage with just over seven minutes left in the contest. Auburn’s lead evaporated after they were outscored 20-8 the rest of the way.
Several fans on X couldn’t help but notice Auburn’s loss as part of a brutal trend for the SEC, which had a whopping eight teams make this year’s NCAA Tournament. The first six SEC teams that played went 1-5 against teams with lower seeds.
The SEC's tournament so far:
8 seed Mississippi State housed by 9 Michigan State
14 Oakland beats 3 Kentucky
11 Oregon beats 6 South Carolina
2 Tennessee beats 15 Saint Peter's
7 Florida gives up 102 to 10 Colorado
13 Yale takes down 4 AuburnThat's 1-5. Abysmal.
— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) March 22, 2024
SEC gettin cooked while a conference that won’t even exist in 6 months is rolling 5-0. pic.twitter.com/KfGlhjLz36
— Inaction Bronson, a habitual pot stirrer (@SwooshMcDuck) March 22, 2024
The SEC in March: pic.twitter.com/FArPqJwHao
— Austin 🦆 (@deviousduck_) March 22, 2024
SEC teams exiting the NCAA tournament two at a time. pic.twitter.com/lTbunXIwgy
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) March 22, 2024
Auburn’s 4-13 upset loss against Yale wasn’t even the worst upset for an SEC team. 3-seed Kentucky was similarly stunned by 14-seed Oakland thanks to the heroics of Steph Curry Jack Gohle.
Both Yale and Oakland had made the “Big Dance” after winning their respective conference tournaments. Fans haven’t forgotten how SEC commissioner Greg Sankey had recently called for the abolishment of such automatic bids for smaller conferences.
Friendly reminder that SEC commissioner Greg Sankey is a stain on college sports and his precious “competitive basketball league” is proving to be quite fraudulent pic.twitter.com/XDSCDr0mPx
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) March 22, 2024
Greg Sankey really just said the NCAA Tournament should get rid of auto bids right before 2 of the SEC's 3 best teams lost to Oakland & Yale: pic.twitter.com/WCssgVqD5I
— College Sports Only (@CollegeSportsO) March 22, 2024
Greg Sankey deserved every bit of those last few minutes.
Don’t lay a finger on our tournament.
— Trilly Donovan (@trillydonovan) March 22, 2024
This is what Greg Sankey wants to take away from you. pic.twitter.com/a0HnlU1Ge1
— College Sports Only (@CollegeSportsO) March 23, 2024
https://twitter.com/JasonKirk_fyi/status/1770986895549313129
Tennessee was the lone SEC team among the conference’s first six to win their first-round matchup. The 2-seed squad demolished Saint Peter’s 83-49. 4-seed Alabama and 9-seed Texas A&M are the two other active teams from the SEC as of writing.
