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By Jason Fray
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There's a tried and true element present for each and every single NCAA Tournament: narratives.
Simply put, it's a narrative-based event. The Cinderella squads popping up out of nowhere become household names for a couple of weeks. In some cases, these smaller schools boast iconic players with zero prior notoriety. Ultimately, these athletes can quickly develop into stars. Steph Curry took full advantage of this on the back of a magical run with Davidson nearly two decades ago.
Narratives also come in the form of rivalries whether geographical, conference-affiliated, or being revived from past tournaments. It's never surprising to see two squads with infamous NCAA Tournament histories being grouped together in the same region.
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As we look towards the upcoming 2026 iteration of the Big Dance, two teams from very different backgrounds have been garnering plenty of buzz. Miami (OH) won 31-straight games to begin this current year before being upset by UMass in the MAC Tournament on Thursday. The RedHawks had been the country's last remaining undefeated team. With a 31-1 record, conventional wisdom would suggest the team being a surefire lock for the NCAA Tournament.
Conversely, Auburn bowed out of the SEC Tournament on Thursday — losing 72-62 to the Tennessee Volunteers. In his first year as the program's head coach, Steven Pearl led the Tigers to an ordinary 17-16 record. On the surface, Auburn wouldn't appear to have a real case for an at-large bid despite Pearl's disagreement with that premise.
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However, looks can be deceiving — and in this case the records for both squads may tell a different story entirely.
Auburn plays in one of the toughest conferences in the country. Despite possessing a record near .500, the Tigers do have wins over St. John's, NC State, Arkansas, Florida (on the road), Texas, and Kentucky. Pearl's team also had a gauntlet of a non-conference schedule where it played Purdue, Arizona, and Michigan (all losses).
Had those losses been replaced with three wins versus lesser opponents, the team's record would be 20-13. From an optics standpoint, that record along with the wins accrued this year probably is enough for Auburn to gain an at-large bid.
Miami (OH) does not have a single win versus a Quad 1 opponent. It boasts an objectively horrible SOS. There's something to acknowledge about 'beating the teams on your schedule' — but the RedHawks didn't exactly line up a credible non-conference slate. Auburn, on the other hand, has one of the toughest schedules in the country.
With the RedHawks bowing out of the MAC Tournament early and not winning the automatic bid as many would've projected, it creates a very unique scenario.
Why not throw these two teams together for one of the play-in games? It would essentially confirm that Miami (OH) is either worthy of a spot in the field, or that Auburn's record is deceiving in correspondence to how good they actually are.
From a pure theater standpoint, this would be a matchup plenty of people would tune into.
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