Worst teams to make March Madness: How 16-loss Auburn would make dubious NCAA Tournament history

What a difference a year can make.

Selection Sunday was a celebration for Auburn in 2025, when the Tigers secured the No. 1 overall seed and set the stage for a run to the Final Four. This time, Auburn — now coached by the son of the coach who revived the program — is going into Selection Sunday with its NCAA Tournament fate completely up in the air.

After an SEC Tournament loss to Tennessee, Auburn coach Steven Pearl said his team should hear its name called on Sunday.

"Our guys have some of the best wins in college basketball, and this team deserves to be in the tournament," he told reporters. "It's a team that can win games in the tournament, and I think they've done enough, ultimately, to have their name called on Selection Sunday."

If Auburn is going to be a tournament team, however, it's going to require the selection committee to break precedent.

Here's what you need to know about Auburn's record and where it would rank among the worst to reach the NCAA Tournament.

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Auburn basketball record 2026

Auburn enters Selection Sunday with a 17-16 record on the season, barely sitting above .500 through 33 games.

The Tigers went 7-11 in SEC play and were 10-5 in non-conference play, with losses to Houston, Purdue, Arizona and Michigan.

Some. including Pearl, have made the argument that Auburn should not be punished for putting together a difficult non-conference schedule. After all the Tigers only narrowly lost to Houston, which is a projected No. 2 seed.

Others argue that simply scheduling tough non-conference games isn't enough, particularly when losses to Purdue, Arizona and Michigan all came by a margin of more than 25 points. Auburn has wins over Florida (on the road), St. John's, Arkansas and Kentucky, but it also has a home loss to Ole Miss.

The selection committee would be denying the team with the nation's toughest schedule if it left Auburn out of the field, but it would be breaking all prior precedent if it let Auburn into the field. Here's why.

MORE: Will Miami (Ohio) still make March Madness?

Most losses by March Madness teams in NCAA history

Auburn's 16 losses would be the most for an at-large team in NCAA Tournament history, though a slew of teams with more losses have earned automatic bids to the big dance by winning their conference tournament.

Most losses overall

As far as teams with automatic bids go, 20 losses is an all-time record shared by 2008 Coppin State, 2013 Liberty and 2023 Texas Southern. All three teams lost before the round of 64. 

2014 Cal Poly, 2016 Holy Cross and 2018 Texas Southern are the only other teams to reach the NCAA Tournament with more than 18 losses other than 1955 Bradley, which was invited at 7-19 when the tournament was still an invitational event. 

Most losses by an at-large team

Auburn's 16 losses would set a new record for most by an at-large team.

The committee has sent four teams to the NCAA Tournament with 15 losses, and all came out of the SEC within the last decade.

2017 Vanderbilt, 2018 Alabama, 2019 Florida and 2025 Texas all entered at 19-15, compared to Auburn's 17-16 mark, and two even received single-digit seeds. Does that mean there is some wiggle room for a 16-loss team to sneak into the First Four? Auburn is certainly hoping so.