Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports
March Madness can be overwhelming. In less than two weeks, you’ll have some sixty odd teams you’ve never seen play on your television. Of course, you want to know more about that 13 seed from the Southland conference than Joe Schmoe at work, right? Especially when Auburn inevitably draws that team in the first round.
Well if that’s the case, you may as well start keeping an eye out now. Each day until Selection Sunday, we’re going to be providing you with the guide for every game you need to watch as an Auburn fan. Whether it’s teams Auburn is competing with for a bubble spot, or teams that Auburn could draw in a first round matchup, we’re going to list them right here for you.
After last night’s most dramatic finale of the Bachelor ever full slate of conference championship games, today is a little lighter on the drama. For the most part, conferences are starting their conference tournaments today, and those teams without byes are generally not tournament contenders. The ACC, Big 12, Big 10, and Pac 12 all have at least one contender playing today, though, and I’ve included the SEC games for reference as well.
*FFO - First Four Out
NOTE: The numbers in parentheses represent the projected seeds by ESPN’s Joe Lunardi and teamrankings.com, respectively.
I’ll own up to missing tip for the NC State/Pitt game, as I wasn’t expecting a 1:00 game on a Wednesday. The Wolfpack are right on the bubble, and need this win to help solidify their case. Them having a good tournament would also help Auburn’s strength of schedule case, so it’s prudent to root for them this week. They likely wouldn’t match up with Auburn again in the first round due to having already played, though.
At 6:00, Oklahoma State takes on Iowa State (another Auburn opponent) in a must-win for the Cowboys. It’s no guarantee this would get them dancing, but if they sneak in on the bubble, they could be a first round opponent for Auburn. This isn’t must-watch territory as it’s only the first round of the Big 12 Tournament, but it’s one to keep an eye on for sure.
At the same time on SEC Network, the 12 seed vs 13 seed matchup in the SEC Tournament tips off. These two teams are on the other side of the bracket as Auburn, but it will be the last chance to see either Breein Tyree or Anthony Edwards play college ball, if you’re into that sort of thing.
Later in the night, we have three games tip off in 30 minute intervals, which should provide a nice pace for warming up to March Madness. Indiana and Nebraska go head to head in the Big 10 Tournament, while Stanford and Cal go at it in Las Vegas for the Pac 12 Tournament. Both teams are on the bubble (for now), and could match up with your Tigers in the first round depending on how seeding falls. Keep an eye on the score and stay tuned for the endings, if nothing else. There’s also Arkansas and Vandy, who could potentially but more than likely not face Auburn in the SEC Semifinals. Both teams would likely need to win the whole SEC to make the Tournament, but Arkansas seems to be a dark horse to make a run, particularly with Isiah Joe back and healthy.
Lastly, if you’re up around the midnight hour, Colorado and Wazzu go at it in #Pac12AfterDark, March edition. Colorado looks to be a firm 7 seed right now, which shouldn’t affect Auburn too much, but if they were to make a run in the light Pac 12, they could be seeding neighbors of Auburn around the 5 line.
from College and Magnolia - All Posts https://www.collegeandmagnolia.com/2020/3/11/21175173/march-madness-viewing-guide-3-11-ncst-oklahoma-state-ole-miss-indiana-stanford-arkansas-colorado
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