Brief thoughts after Auburn's SEC Tournament championship + NCAA Tournament seeding and bracket outlook

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Auburn men’s basketball team earned a No. 4 seed in the 2024 NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship as the field of 68 was announced Sunday. The Tigers (27-7) earned an automatic bid as the Southeastern Conference Tournament champion and will make their 13th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance next to 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2024. It was also the program’s fifth berth in the last six tournaments. This is the fourth time in Auburn’s 13 NCAA trips to head out West next to the 1986 first and second rounds in Long Beach, Calif., 2018 first and second rounds in San Diego, Calif., and 2019 first and second rounds in Salt Lake City, Utah. Auburn is No. 4 seed in the East Region and will play 13th-seeded Yale (22-9) on Friday, March 22, at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena in Spokane, Wash. The winner will advance to face either fifth-seeded San Diego State (24-10) or 12th-seeded UAB (23-11) in the second round on Sunday, March 24. The Tigers are 19-12 (.613) all-time in NCAA Tournament games and 7-4 under Pearl. This will be the second all-time meeting between Auburn and Yale. In their first and only meeting, the Tigers prevailed with an 86-64 victory over the Bulldogs on Dec. 4, 2021 at Neville Arena. The Bulldogs reached the NCAA Tournament on a buzzer beater versus Brown in the championship game of the Ivy League Tournament. This is Yale’s third March Madness appearance in the last four seasons under head coach James Jones. Here are (a lot) of brief thoughts on Auburn's championship run, the season, NCAA Tournament outlook and more...