Michigan will face No. 1 seed Auburn on Friday night in Atlanta (9:39 p.m, CBS), with a trip to the Elite Eight on the line.
The Tigers are the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament, with an incredible resume of signature wins. They are the best team Michigan has faced this season in a win-or-go-home spot. To illustrate just how dominant Auburn was at its best, they beat the two Big Ten teams on the schedule—Ohio State (91-53) and Purdue (87-69)—by a combined 56 points on neutral floors.
Elite ceiling, but also a recent dip in form
For most of this season, Auburn was the best team in the country. The Tigers have an all-time collection of gaudy wins and were 27-2 on March 1st.
Auburn is the No. 4 team in the country, per KenPom, with the No. 3 defense and the No. 12 offense. It outscored SEC foes by 13.1 points per possession in regular season games and hasn’t lost to a team ranked outside of the KenPom top 20 this year.
Late in the year, there’s been at least some dip in form.
The Tigers lost three of four heading into Selection Sunday and look slightly more mortal. Since beating Kentucky on the road to clinch the SEC title, Auburn is just 3-3 and ranked 31st on Torvik during that span.
Losses to Texas A&M, Alabama, and Tennessee aren’t exactly an indictment, but enough to raise a few eyebrows and make Auburn look like a traditional No. 1 seed more than an unstoppable force.
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