Joe Lunardi reveals where Auburn, USC stand on NCAA Tournament bubble after recent losses

Auburn and USC have become two of the more intriguing NCAA Tournament bubble teams during the final week of the season. As it stands, however, neither would make the Big Dance if the season ended today, per ESPN’s Joe Lunardi.

On Monday, Lunardi revealed his latest bracketology — including the Tigers as the first team out, and the Trojans as the first team under the category ‘next four out.’ Bubbles team including Santa Clara, Ohio State, New Mexico and Indiana are currently considered the last four in, per Lunardi.

“We see more teams playing their way out than playing their way in, and we see it every year right around the first of March,” Lunardi said during halftime between No. 1 Duke vs. NC State. “Look who lost — Auburn, Cal, USC, Seton Hall, Virginia Tech, San Diego State — all of these teams could be in the field, but they all lost over the weekend. Very few of their bubble competitors came away with a win. And that’s why, even when the bubble shrinks, as it tends to, with bid thieves, we start to run out of teams, and everybody in the country goes ‘the bubble stinks.’

“It doesn’t stink. It’s just hard to win when you’re playing other NCAA tournament-level teams.”

Auburn, coming off a run to the Final Four, was blindsided by the late offseason retirement of former head coach Bruce Pearl. His son, Steven, took over and the Tigers are currently 15-14 with a 6-10 record against the SEC. Heading into March, Auburn has lost seven of its last eight games as the Tigers look to do all they can to secure their spot within the tournament over the next couple of weeks.

For USC, the Trojans just dismissed leading scorer Chad Baker-Mazara on Sunday despite the Trojans’ late push for the NCAA Tournament. At 18-11 overall, the Trojans went undefeated during non-conference action this season but have a 7-11 mark vs. the Big Ten.

With both teams losing over the weekend, both of their upcoming games this week will be considered must-win in their pursuit to the NCAA Tournament. The Trojans travel to Washington on Wednesday before hosting UCLA on Saturday. Auburn hosts LSU on Tuesday before traveling to in-state rival Alabama for a Saturday night matchup.