Separate paths

SEC's Alabama, Auburn receive at-large NCAA berths

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) -- Alabama avoided adding another embarrassing chapter to its freefall from No. 1 while Auburn's surprising season continues. Troy State, meanwhile, heads to Music City for its first NCAA tournament game.

The Tide and Tigers were among the last at-large teams selected Sunday. Both received No. 10 seeds -- Auburn in the East regional, Alabama in the Midwest.

"The last 72 hours have been stressful on everybody," Crimson Tide coach Mark Gottfried said. "Our players right now feel like they've got a new beginning, so we're going to go play."

Alabama flirted with becoming the first team since North Carolina State in 1975 to earn a No. 1 ranking during the season then fail to make the NCAA tournament.

The Tide players and coaches nervously watched the selection announcement in their locker room, shielded from fans and media.

"It was very emotional for us," Tide guard Mo Williams said. "Everybody was nervous, especially me. When that name came up it was emotional. You saw tears, you saw smiles. It was just thanking God for a second chance."

The Tide will face No. 7 seed Indiana -- coached by former Tide player Mike Davis -- in Boston on Friday. If Alabama advances, it will play the winner of No. 2 Pittsburgh and No. 15 Wagner.

The surprising Tigers will play No. 7 St. Joseph's of the Atlantic 10 on Friday in Tampa, Fla., with the winner facing either No. 2 Wake Forest or No. 15 East Tennessee State.

"Everybody was very excited" when the brackets were announced, senior Marquis Daniels said. "We were very happy because we knew we were on the bubble and we felt like we had a great season."

The Tide, meanwhile, had a miserable finish. Alabama won only eight of its last 19 games and was bounced from the first round of the SEC tournament with an 82-69 loss to Vanderbilt, which had lost nine straight.

Alabama finished the regular season with a 7-9 SEC record, but also had victories over top-seeded Oklahoma and Xavier, an NCAA third seed, early in the season.

The Tide lost to Kent State in the second round of the NCAA tournament last year after winning the SEC championship.

Auburn was picked to finish last in the SEC West, but instead was in title contention until losing to Mississippi State in the regular-season finale.

The Tigers won their first four league games, matching their total from last season, but an invitation was believed to hinge on their SEC quarterfinal game against Tennessee. That theory seemed to play out, as the victorious Tigers got a bid and the Volunteers did not.

"I thought we controlled everything we could control, and our team did one heck of a job this year," said Auburn coach Cliff Ellis.

"You've got to give them credit, from senior leadership to that young group of sophomores that played their hearts out."

The only Alabama team with an automatic bid to the tournament, Troy State, will head to Nashville, Tenn., as the No. 14 seed in the South regional. The Trojans will take on No. 3 Xavier, regular-season champions of the Atlantic 10 Conference, and senior forward David West.

"Obviously, they have more talent than we do. We aren't going to try and fool ourselves into thinking they don't," Trojans coach Don Maestri said. "They have a couple of NBA-caliber guys, but we'll work hard and prepare for them."

Birmingham will be host to teams from the South and East regionals. Texas, the top seed in the South, will play Friday against the winner of the play-in game between North Carolina-Asheville and Texas Southern. The Tigers won the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament in Birmingham on Saturday, but they'll have to defeat Asheville for the right to return.

If Texas wins, the Longhorns would face No. 8 LSU or No. 9 Purdue in a game on Sunday.

Also in Birmingham, the East's No. 4 seed, Louisville, will play No. 13 Austin Peay and No. 5 Mississippi State will play No. 12 Butler on Friday. The winners will play Sunday for a berth in the Sweet Sixteen.

The only Alabama women's team to make the field, Alabama State, faces a tough road. The No. 16 Hornets will play at Tennessee, a No. 1 seed for the 14th time in 16 years.

 

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