The Auburn Tigers, led by SEC player of the year Johni Broome, were chosen as the No. 1 overall seed for the NCAA tournament on Sunday, with conference champions Duke (ACC), Houston (Big 12) and Florida (SEC) also tabbed as 1-seeds by the selection committee.
The SEC made NCAA tournament history with 14 representatives among the 68 teams to make the field. The highest prior mark was the Big East’s 11 bids in 2011.
Auburn (28-5) will be the top seed in the South Region and will face the Alabama State-St. Francis winner in Thursday’s first round in Lexington, Kentucky.
The Tigers faltered down the stretch, losing three of their last four games — including a 70-65 defeat to Tennessee in the semifinals of the SEC tournament on Saturday.
Auburn was joined in the South by second-seeded Michigan State, third-seeded Iowa State and a familiar foe in No. 4 seed Texas A&M.
Duke (31-3) is the No. 1 seed in the East Region and will play the American-Mount St. Mary’s winner in the first round in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Despite losing Cooper Flagg with a sprained ankle during the first half of Thursday’s victory in the ACC tournament quarterfinals, the Blue Devils won the final two games without their star freshman, who was the ACC player of the year.
Coach Jon Scheyer on Saturday said Flagg was “trending in a great way” toward being available “right away” for the NCAA tournament.
Houston (30-4) is the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region and will go against SIU Edwardsville in Thursday’s first round in Wichita, Kansas.
The Cougars swept the Big 12 regular season and tournament titles, securing its fourth straight 30-win season to tie Gonzaga for the second-longest streak in Division I history.
The Gators (30-4) lead the way in the West Region and will go against Norfolk State in the first round.
Florida improved to 5-2 in top-10 matchups this season after beating Tennessee 86-77 — the most points scored against the Vols this season — for the Gators’ first SEC title since 2014.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
