No. 13 Yale to face No. 4 Auburn in first round of March Madness
The No. 13 seeded Bulldogs will travel to Spokane, Washington to play the No. 4 seeded Tigers on Friday, March 22.
Ben Raab, Contributing Photographer
NEW YORK CITY –– Yale will play Auburn in the first round of March Madness.
The No. 13 seeded Bulldogs (22–9, 13–3 Ivy) will head to Spokane to face the No. 4 seeded Tigers(27–7, 16–5 SEC) in the NCAA Tournament’s round of 64. Yale booked their spot with a 62–61 victory over Brown in the Ivy League Championship after Matt Knowling ’24 made a game-winning layup as time expired.
“We have all the confidence in the world that we’re going to make a run,” team captain August Mahoney ’24 told the News after the win. “Tomorrow we’re gonna wake up and get ready for whoever we’re up against.”
Yale is led by first-team All-Ivy selection Danny Wolf ’26, a 7-foot forward averaging 14.5 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. But the Elis are one of the nation’s most versatile teams, with all five of their starters averaging double-digit scoring figures.
Knowling averages 11.8 points per game on 57.7 percent shooting, while second-team All-Ivy selection John Poulakidas ’25 forms an elite three-point shooting duo alongside Mahoney. The two average a combined 41 percent from deep this season.
Point guard Bez Mbeng ’25 anchors the Bulldogs on defense. The two-time Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year averages 1.9 steals per game and consistently matches up against the opposing team’s top scorer.
The Tigers are led by forward Johni Broome, who averages 16.2 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. Auburn is the fourth-ranked team in the nation according to kenpom.com. Earlier today, they won the SEC tournament with a win over Florida.
Earlier today, Jones predicted that Yale would be a 13 or 14 seed in the tournament, but said that they deserved to be seeded higher.
“What we should be and what we’ll get are two different things,” he said.
This is Yale’s seventh-ever appearance in the NCAA tournament. Most recently, the Bulldogs — seeded 14th — played Purdue in the first round of the 2022 tournament, where they fell 78–56.
In 2016, playing in the tournament for the second time – and first under Jones – Yale made history by knocking off Baylor 79–75 before losing to Duke in the following round.
Auburn made the tournament as a nine seed last season, falling to Houston in the round of 32.
The winner of Yale-Auburn will play the winner of No. 5 San Diego State vs No. 12 UAB in the tournament’s round of 32.