Joe Lunardi: Auburn has a 'two-loss cushion' as top seed in NCAA Tournament

No. 1 Auburn (25-2, 13-1 SEC) has sat atop the AP Top 25 poll for the entire month of Feburary, and have defeated both Florida and Alabama during that stretch — two teams also considered to be 1-seeds in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

In the eyes of ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi, Auburn’s resume has put them on a pedestal above the rest of the field in March Madness, including their SEC counterparts.

“Auburn has lapped the field a couple of times in terms of resume metrics. Those 1-seeds you see at the top there are not necessarily created equal,” Lunardi explained during an appearance on the SEC Network on Monday afternoon. “I think Auburn has at least a two-loss cushion over everybody else.”

Lunardi noted that the Tigers not only are 13-1 against SEC competition — a conference projected to send 13 teams to the NCAA Tournament — but are 23 games over .500 heading into the final game of Feburary.

“This just doesn’t happen,” he said. “And I know they’ve won a lot of close games, and they survived a bit of an injury to their star. And you know, maybe the pendulum swings and they drop a couple here down the stretch — but there’s not a lot of evidence to suggest that’s going to happen.

“I mean, they’ve lost to Florida, another number one seed, and they lost that Duke. Period. They beat an outstanding Maui field, and they’ve answered the bell in every other league game. I think it’s going to take a lot to knock Auburn off that perch of the very top number one seed.”

According to Lunardi, if Duke, Florida or Alabama want to overtake the Tigers as the top overall seed in March Madness, then not only do each of those teams need to win out and win their conference championship, but Auburn will need to have lost at least two of their games during that stretch.

The longtime bracketologist doesn’t expect Auburn to fall off its high horse anytime soon, and if that’s the case then they’ll have a geographical advantage during the first two weekends of the turnament. They’d play in Lexington for the first two rounds, and then Atlanta for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight if they remain atop the 1-seeds.

Auburn will match up against three ranked opponents in No. 17 Kentucky, No. 12 Texas A&M and No. 6 Alabama to round out its regular season. Before that, they’re set to host Ole Miss on Wednesday night. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. ET live on ESPN2.