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Joe Lunardi updates race for No. 1 overall seed after Auburn’s loss to Tennessee
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Joe Lunardi released his latest bracket projections after Auburn, his No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, fell to Tennessee in the SEC Tournament semifinals on Saturday.
As you can see below, there’s been no change at the top: the Tigers are the top overall seed despite a 70-65 loss to the Volunteers in Nashville:
Florida is the other SEC team on the top line, with Alabama Lunardi’s No. 2 seed in the Midwest region. The winner of the Gators/Crimson Tide semifinal on Saturday “should be the fourth and final No. 1 seed,” he projected.
Back to Auburn, though, and its loss to Tennessee. The Tigers have now dropped 3 of their last 4: they fell to Texas A&M on March 4 before a 93-91 overtime loss to Alabama on March 8. They beat Ole Miss to open the SEC Tournament before being knocked out by the Volunteers.
The goal of teams is to be playing their best basketball going into the tournament. Auburn has hit a bit of a skid ahead of March Madness, and while that may not hurt its prospects of being the top overall seed in the field, it looks to have plenty to work on in the coming days before the first round begins.
When it comes to the best Final Four odds, Auburn is now 2nd in the country at DraftKings, trailing Duke (-150) who is the top team per those odds. Houston and Florida (Both at +140) are next in line with the Tigers listed at -140.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
