Auburn basketball, winners of four straight and six of its last seven, is ranked No. 22 in the final AP poll of the regular season, announced Monday morning.
Bruce Pearl's squad downed then-No. 5 Tennessee on Saturday in the regular season finale inside Auburn Arena. Forward Chuma Okeke led Auburn (22-9, 11-7 SEC) with 22 points, followed by guards Bryce Brown and Jared Harper's 16 apiece. Tennessee fell to No. 8 following the loss.
The win over the Volunteers marked Auburn's third straight Quadrant 1 victory to close the season, the first two being a home win over Miss State and a road win over Alabama.
Per BracketMatrix.com, which compiles over 100 expert brackets into an average seeding, Auburn's NCAA Tournament seeding currently averages to a 6.17.
Auburn was last in the AP Top 25 in late January. A three-game losing streak knocked the Tigers out of the polls then, snapping a 22-week streak in the Top 25, the second-longest streak in program history.
The Tigers' strong finish in the conference earned them the 5-seed in this week's SEC Tournament in Nashville. On Thursday, Auburn will face the winner of Missouri vs. Georgia.
"You have to win in tournament time," Pearl said after the Tennessee win. "I told the guys before the game, win or lose, let's see where we're at. We won't be playing anybody any better than Tennessee in Nashville. Let's just see where we're at. And regardless of the outcome, let's get together, and let's go try to win three games."
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Nathan King, senior in journalism with a minor in business, is The Plainsman's sports editor.
