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NCAA men's tournament bracket: Auburn announced as No. 1 overall seed ahead of Duke

By Jason Owens, Yahoo Sports
Alabama v Auburn AUBURN, ALABAMA - MARCH 8: Johni Broome #4 of the Auburn Tigers runs back to defend during the first half against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Neville Arena on March 8, 2025 in Auburn, Alabama. (Photo by Stew Milne/Getty Images) (Stew Milne/Getty Images)
By Jason Owens, Yahoo Sports

The NCAA men's tournament bracket was revealed on Sunday with Auburn announced as the No. 1 seed playing out of the South region.

How Auburn got here

Auburn secured the No. 1 overall seed thanks to winning the SEC regular season and producing a 28-5 record while playing the nation's second-hardest schedule.

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The Tigers lost three of their last four games, including a defeat to Tennessee in the SEC tournament semifinal. But the NCAA tournament committee overlooked Auburn's late-season struggles and rewarded an overall résumé that features the best record in an SEC that was one of the toughest conferences in NCAA history.

Auburn edged out a 31-3 Duke team loaded with projected NBA talent that beat Auburn in December and was historically dominant in a 19-1 conference run to the ACC regular-season title. Duke then backed up its regular season with an ACC tournament championship and enters NCAA tournament play with a nation's best 20.8-point average margin of victory.

If Cooper Flagg returns healthy from a sprained ankle, Duke will be the favorite to win the championship in the eyes of many. But it was dinged by the committee for its strength of schedule (57th) while playing in a down ACC.

Auburn, meanwhile, produced the nation’s most Quad 1 wins while going 16-5 against Quad 1 opponents. Each of Auburn’s five losses (Duke, Tennessee, Florida, Texas A&M, Alabama) came against teams that will be highly seeded in the NCAA tournament. Led by National Player of the Year candidate Johni Broome, Auburn will look to convert the No. 1 overall seed into the program’s first NCAA championship.

South region

No. 1 Auburn vs. No. 16 Alabama/Saint Francis

No. 8 Louisville vs. No. 9 Creighton

No. 5 Michigan vs. No. 12 UC San Diego

No. 4 Texas A&M vs No. 13 Yale

No. 6 Ole Miss vs. No. 11 San Diego State/No. 11 North Carolina

No. 3 Iowa State vs. No. 14 Lipscomb

No. 7 Marquette vs. No. 10 New Mexico

No. 2 Michigan State vs. No. 15 Bryant

East region

TBA

Midwest region

TBA

West region

TBA

This is a breaking news story that will be updated.

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