INDIANAPOLIS – The Auburn men’s basketball team earned a historic No. 1 overall seed in the 2025 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship as the field of 68 was announced on Sunday.
The Southeastern Conference regular-season champion Tigers (28-5) received one of a league-record 14 bids and will make their 14th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance next to 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Auburn is the top seed in the South Region (Atlanta) and will face the winner of an NCAA First Four matchup between No. 16 seed Alabama State (19-15) or No. 16 Saint Francis (16-17) on Thursday, March 20, at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky., before a potential second-round matchup with No. 8 Louisville (27-7) or No. 9 Creighton (24-10) on Saturday, March 22.
The Tigers are 19-13 (.594) all-time in NCAA Tournament games and 7-5 under head coach Bruce Pearl.
Auburn has never met St. Francis out of the Northeast Conference in the 119-year history of the program, while it is 6-0 all-time versus Alabama State out of the SWAC. Both teams last met in December 2023. The Tigers are tied 1-1 in both of their all-time meetings with Creighton out of the BIG EAST and Louisville out of the ACC.