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Did Auburn make March Madness? Why Tigers missed NCAA Tournament bracket
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- Did Auburn make March Madness? Why Tigers missed NCAA Tournament bracket
With the bubble for the NCAA Tournament being as messy as it has been in past years, there were bound to be a few teams left out of the NCAA Tournament.
One of those was Auburn men's basketball .
REQUIRED READING: March Madness printable bracket for predictions, picks in NCAA Tournament
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Despite stressing their No. 3-ranked strength of schedule and a road win at Florida in late January in the self-promotion of their NCAA Tournament resume, the Tigers were left out of the 68-team NCAA Tournament bracket, which was released by the selection committee on Sunday.
Here's what to know:
Did Auburn basketball make March Madness?
No, the Tigers did not make the 2026 men's NCAA Tournament. It is the first year that Auburn will miss out on the NCAA Tournament since the 2020-21 season. It snaps a four-year streak of making March Madness, which featured a Final Four run last season under then-head coach Bruce Pearl, the father of current head coach Steven Pearl.
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The Tigers were the second team in the "Last Four In" category of the bracket from the committee.
Why did Auburn basketball not make NCAA Tournament?
The answer was in front of everyone, outside of the Auburn program, to see since the middle of February: The Tigers didn't have a good enough resume of work to get them an at-large bid.
The Tigers picked up three notable Power Five wins in their non-conference schedule against Oregon, St. John's and NC State. They then picked up a top-15 ranked win over Arkansas for their first SEC win of the season on Jan. 10, which was the start of a five-win in six-game stretch for the Tigers, with one of those wins being that win in Gainesville against the Gators.
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But since that stretch at the end of January, the Tigers, to put it bluntly, haven't been that good, with a 17-16 overall record.
They've also lost out on opportunities to help move them off the bubble: loss on the road at Mississippi State (No. 114 in NET ranking, No. 13 seed in SEC tournament), loss on the road at Oklahoma (No. 47 in NET ranking, then a non-bubble team) and then a loss at home against Ole Miss .
Auburn basketball NET ranking, Quad 1 record, WAB ranking
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NET ranking:No. 39
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Quad 1 record:4-13
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Quad 2 record:3-2
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Quad 3 record:4-1
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Quad 4 record:6-0
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WAB:No. 44
The Tigers headed into Selection Sunday with a No. 39 NET ranking (as of Saturday, March 14) and a Quad 1 record of 4-13, two important statistics that the NCAA Tournament selection committee used.
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Auburn also holds a WAB ranking — Wins Above Bubble — of No. 44 (as of Saturday, March 14). WAB has been a statistical input used by the committee for a while, but has become a more important one in recent years. It measures a team's total wins and schedule against what the average bubble team would have accomplished against the same schedule.
Auburn basketball schedule 2025-26
Here's a look at Auburn's SEC schedule.
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Saturday, Jan. 3:No. 23 Georgia 104, Auburn 100 (OT)
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Tuesday, Jan. 6:Texas A&M 90, Auburn 88
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Saturday, Jan. 10:Auburn 95, No. 15 Arkansas 73
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Wednesday, Jan. 14:Missouri 84, Auburn 74
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Saturday, Jan. 17:Auburn 71, South Carolina 67
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Tuesday, Jan. 20:Auburn 78, Ole Miss 66
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Saturday, Jan. 24:Auburn 76, No. 16 Florida 67
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Wednesday, Jan. 28:Auburn 88, Texas 82
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Saturday, Jan. 31:Tennessee 77, Auburn 69
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Saturday, Feb. 7:Alabama 96, Auburn 92
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Tuesday, Feb. 10:No. 19 Vanderbilt 84, Auburn 76
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Saturday, Feb. 14:No. 21 Arkansas 88, Auburn 75
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Wednesday, Feb. 18:Mississippi State 91, Auburn 85
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Saturday, Feb. 21:Auburn 75, Kentucky 74
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Tuesday, Feb. 24:Oklahoma 91, Auburn 79
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Saturday, Feb. 28:Ole Miss 85, Auburn 79
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Tuesday, March 3:Auburn 88, LSU 74
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Saturday, March 7:No. 16 Alabama 96, Auburn 84
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Wednesday, March 11:Auburn 79, Mississippi State 61 (SEC Tournament)
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Thursday, March 12:No. 25 Tennessee 72, Auburn 62 (SEC Tournament)
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Did Auburn make March Madness? Why Tigers missed NCAA Tournament 2026
