No. 1 Auburn Tigers vs. No. 2 Michigan State Spartans Preview, How to Watch

The No. 1 Auburn Tigers will face their third-straight Big Ten Opponent in the NCAA Tournament when they take on legendary coach Tom Izzo and his No. 2 Michigan State Spartans.

Auburn Tigers guard Chad Baker-Mazara (10) and guard Denver Jones (2) will be key players against the Michigan State Spartans. / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

NCAA Elite Eight
#1 Auburn Tigers (31-5) vs. #2 Michigan State Spartans (30-6)
March 30, 2025 at 4:05 p.m. (CT) / 5:05 p.m. (ET)
State Farm Arena (16,888) | Atlanta, Ga.

Television: CBS
Play-By-Play: Ian Eagle
Color Analysts: Bill Raftery and Grant Hill
Sideline Reporter: Tracy Wolfson

Radio: Auburn Sports Network
Play-By-Play: Andy Burcham
Color Analyst: Randall Dickey

» No. 1 overall seed and SEC regular-season champion Auburn (30-5) awaits a defensive showdown with No. 2 seed Michigan State (30-6) in the South Regional Final of the 2025 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship on Sunday at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

» Auburn is one of four SEC schools to advance to the Elite Eight, joining Alabama, Florida and Tennessee.

» The Tigers set a new school record with its 31st win of the season against Michigan in the Sweet 16 on Friday night, breaking the old mark of 30 victories during the 2018-19 NCAA Final Four season.

» Sunday’s game will be the second meeting between Pearl and Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo in the Elite Eight after the Spartans defeated Tennessee, 70-69, in 2010.

» For the third time in program history, Auburn advanced to the Elite Eight (1986, 2019 and 2025) and the second time under Pearl.

» Auburn has now won its first three NCAA Tournament games by double digits for the first time in program history – Alabama State (+20), Creighton (+12) and Michigan (+13). The Tigers are the only Elite Eight team in this year’s NCAA Tournament to win its first three tournament games by double digits.

» Auburn was a coveted No. 1 seed once before in 1999 (defeated No. 16 Winthrop and No. 9 Oklahoma State; lost to No. 4 Ohio State in the Sweet 16) and is the No. 1 overall seed for the first time in program history. The Tigers join Florida, Kentucky and LSU as the only schools that have earned multiple No. 1 seeds as a member of the SEC since 1979 when the selection committee started seeding every team.

» AU is making its 14th all-time NCAA Tournament appearance and sixth under head coach Bruce Pearl (2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025). It is 22-13 all-time (.629) in NCAA Tournament play. The Tigers are making their third Elite Eight appearance. In 2019, the program made a memorable run to the Final Four.

» Senior two-time All-American and National Player of the Year front runner Johni Broome was honored as SEC Player of the Year by the Associated Press and the league’s coaches. He joined Charles Barkley (1984) and Chris Porter (1999) as the only Tigers to win the AP honor. Broome already received billing as the nation’s top college player by The Sporting News and was a consensus first team All-America by the AP, NABC and USBWA. He turned in his 20th double-double of the season with 22 points and 16 rebounds versus Michigan.

» Head Coach Bruce Pearl was named SEC Coach of the Year after leading Auburn to the SEC regular-season title in a historic year for the league. It was the Tigers’ fifth SEC Championship (3 regular season and 2 tournament) in the last eight seasons. Pearl set a program record with his eighth NCAA Tournament win against Alabama State.

» Auburn was ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25 Poll for eight-straight weeks from Jan. 13 to March 3 and are one of only two SEC teams to ever be ranked No. 1 for at least six-straight weeks in the AP Poll, joining Kentucky. Auburn is currently ranked No. 4 in the AP Poll and Coaches Poll.

INSIDE THE SERIES

» Auburn and Michigan State have only met one previous time on the hardwood. The Spartans defeated the Tigers, 92-79, in the Great Alaska Shootout to open the 1989-90 season in Anchorage, Alaska.

» Auburn is 3-0 against Big Ten Conference opponents this season with a 91-53 victory over Ohio State as part of the Holiday Hoopsgiving tournament on Dec. 14 at State Farm Arena, an 87-69 win over No. 16 Purdue as part of the Battle in Birmingham on Dec. 21 in Birmingham and a 78-65 victory over fifth-seeded Michigan in the Sweet 16 on Friday.

» AU and Michigan State share seven common opponents this season. The Tigers are 9-0 against these opponents, while the Spartans are 7-1. Auburn beat North Carolina, Memphis, Ohio State, Purdue, Monmouth, Ole Miss (three times) and Michigan.

» Meanwhile, Michigan State defeated Monmouth, UNC, Ohio State, Purdue, Michigan (twice) and Ole Miss. The Spartans lost to Memphis, 71-63, in the Maui Invitational.

» Sunday’s game is the second all-time meeting between Bruce Pearl and Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo. The first matchup between the two head coaches also came during the Elite Eight as Izzo’s fifth-seeded Spartans defeated Pearl and the sixth-seeded Tennessee Volunteers, 70-69, in the NCAA Midwest Regional Final.

TIGERS vs. 2025 NCAA TOURNAMENT FIELD (ELITE EIGHT)

» Twenty-four of Auburn's 33 regular season games this season were against the NCAA Tournament field with the Tigers posting a 19-5 record in these games.

» Auburn played all three of the other No. 1 seeds including a 74-69 victory over Houston on Nov. 9 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas during the regular season. Additionally, the Tigers played eight other games against top four seeds including four games against No. 2 seeds, two games against No. 3 seeds and two games against No. 4 seeds prior to March Madness.

» Sixteen of Auburn's 18 games during its SEC regular-season championship run, where the Tigers compiled a 15-3 record, were against 2025 NCAA Tournament squads.

» The SEC set a record by having 14 of the conference’s 16 teams invited to the 2025 NCAA Tournament, breaking the old mark of 11 BIG EAST teams in 2011. The league also set a record by having seven members advance to the Sweet 16, surpassing the previous record of six Sweet 16 teams from the ACC in 2016. The league has half the Elite Eight field with Auburn, Alabama, Florida and Tennessee.

» Among the remaining eight teams, Auburn’s seven games against the Elite Eight field are the most among the remaining teams, while the Tigers’ three victories against the field are tied for second.

NCAA ELITE EIGHT TEAMS VS. NCAA ELITE EIGHT FIELD

Auburn 3-4
Alalabama 2-4
Michigan State 0-0
Tennessee 3-3
Texas Tech 1-1
Duke 1-0
Florida 5-1
Houston 1-3

MICHIGAN RECAP

» It was Auburn’s first-ever NCAA Tournament game against Michigan. The Tigers are now 3-0 against the Big Ten Conference this season.

» Auburn improved to 5-2 all-time inside of State Farm Arena. The Tigers have won three-straight games in the facility including two wins this season with a 91-53 victory over Ohio State on Dec. 14 and Friday’s 78-65 victory over Michigan in the Sweet 16.

» Auburn is now 2-1 all-time in NCAA Tournament games played in Atlanta. Prior to Friday’s win, the No. 8 seeded Tigers defeated No. 9 seeded Bradley, 90-86, and lost 107-87 to top-seeded Oklahoma in the Omni in the first two rounds of the Southeast Region in 1988.

» With its 78 points against Michigan, Auburn has scored 3,010 points on the season, making it the second time in program history the Tigers have gone over the 3,000-point mark in a season after scoring a school-record 3,188 points during the 2018-19 season.

» Auburn’s eight 3-pointers gave the Tigers 329 3-point field goals on the season, passing the 2017-18 Tigers for second on the school’s single-season 3-point field goals list. Auburn made a program record 454 3-pointers during the 2018-19 season.

» The Tigers went 14-of-18 from the free throw line against the Wolverines. They have now made 551 free throws on the season, which is tied for fifth most in program history with the 2019-20 team.

» With its five blocks against Michigan, Auburn has blocked 216 shots on the season, which is second most in school history. The Tigers blocked a school-record 272 shots during the 2021-22 season.

» Auburn recorded 15 assists against Michigan, giving them 586 assists on the season, which ranks second most in school history. The school record was set last season with 622 assists.

» Auburn held Michigan to 29 first-half points. Tonight was the 15th time the Tigers have held an opponent to under 30 points in the first half this season including all three games against Big Ten opponents.

» Auburn had three 20-point scorers in an NCAA Tournament game for the first time in program history led by Broome’s 80th career double-double of 22 points and 16 rebounds. It was Broome’s fourth double-double in an NCAA Tournament game in his Auburn career, which is one behind Jeff Moore’s school record of five double-doubles in the tournament.

» Broome, who had 24 points and 13 rebounds against Yale last season, joins Moore and Chuck Person as the only Auburn players with multiple 20-point, 10-rebound games all-time in the NCAA Tournament. Broome’s 16 rebounds was one off Charles Barkley’s program NCAA Tournament record 17 boards against Richmond in 1984. His 39 boards in the first three games of this year’s tournament are a new program record for a single tournament, breaking Person’s record of 38 rebounds in the 1986 tournament.

» Broome also moved past Gary Redding and Person for third on Auburn’s career rebounding list. He went for a double-double in the first half for the fourth time this season with 10 points and 11 rebounds before halftime against Michigan. Broome moved up to eighth on Auburn’s single-season scoring list with 629 points.

» Denver Jones poured in 20 points, which was one off his season high of 21 points at Vanderbilt on Feb. 11. He went 4-of-7 from long range to mark his second 20-point game of the season.

PLAYER TO WATCH: TAHAAD PETTIFORD

» Freshman Tahaad Pettiford has been rather impressive in his first-ever NCAA Tournament experience, scoring in double figures for his third-straight game with 20 points on 7-of-14 field goals against Michigan. The rookie guard also recorded 16 points versus Alabama State in round of 64 and 23 points against Creighton in the round of 32.

» Pettiford is averaging 19.7 points per game in this year’s tournament which is tied with Walter Clayton Jr. of Florida, for fifth-most among leading scorers still alive in the Elite Eight. Mark Sears of Alabama is averaging a tournament-best 22.7 points per game followed by Chaz Lanier of Tennessee (22.0 ppg) and Cooper Flagg of Duke (20.7 ppg).

» Pettiford has turned in six 20-point games of the season, which is tied with Mustapha Heron for seventh-most among freshmen in program history. He also joined Chuck Person and Mike Jones recording at least two straight 20-point NCAA Tournament games. Pettiford also played in his 36th game against Michigan, which broke a tie with former Tiger Aden Holloway for the most games played by a freshman in program history.

» According to CBS Research, Pettiford’s 59 points are the second most in NCAA Tournament history by a player off the bench through three games. Roburt Sallie had 60 points for Memphis in 2009.

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