As the newly-crowned SEC Champion prepares for its trek to St. Louis for the SEC Tournament, Auburn dropped a bit in the AP Top 25 on Monday.
The Tigers entered the penultimate rankings at No. 16, down two spots from last week’s poll.
Auburn earned its first SEC regular season title since 1999 on Saturday as it topped South Carolina 79-70. Tennessee won a share of the title with its 66-61 comeback win over Georgia.
The Tigers, however, will be the No. 1 seed in this week’s SEC Tournament due to their 94-84 victory over the Vols on Jan. 2.
Tennessee entered this week’s poll at No. 13, making the Volunteers the SEC’s top-ranked team. The Vols finished the regular season winning five of their last six games, while the Tigers dropped three of their last five.
This is the first time since Jan. 15 that Auburn is not the highest-ranked team in the SEC.
NCAA Tournament projections have Auburn ranging as a No. 2 or No. 3 seed in what will be its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2003. CBS’s Jerry Palm and ESPN’s Joe Lunardi each have the Tigers as a 3-seed.
Auburn, which received a double-bye in the SEC Tournament, will take on the winner of the Texas A&M-Alabama game, which will tip-off at noon on Thursday.
The Tigers will be searching for their first win in the SEC Tournament since K.T. Harrell led them to the semifinals on a magical run in the 2015 SEC Tournament.
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