College basketball bubble watch: Week 6

NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 14: Head coach Chris Mullin of St. John's in action against Central Connecticut State during an NCAA basketball game at Carnesecca Arena on November 16, 2017 in the Jamaica neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images) /

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LEXINGTON, KY – JANUARY 14: Head coach Bruce Pearl of the Auburn Tigers reacts during the game against the Kentucky Wildcats at Rupp Arena on January 14, 2017 in Lexington, Kentucky. Kentucky defeated Auburn 92-72. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

2. Auburn Tigers

Auburn’s lengthy 14-year NCAA Tournament drought may finally be coming to an end, as Bruce Pearl has the Tigers on the right side of the bubble in the early going.

After finishing at 18-14 last season for its best mark since 2008, Auburn is off to a strong 8-1 start in the fourth year of the Pearl era. The Tigers’ only loss is to Temple on a neutral court, and they picked up their best win of the season last week with a hard-fought win against UAB.

While entering SEC play with just one loss would certainly put the Tigers in Big Dance contention, they could use a few more marquee wins over the next couple of weeks. Auburn faces a major test on Saturday when Middle Tennessee State visits, and next Tuesday’s trip to Murray State won’t be a gimmie either.

Junior Bryce Brown leads the Tigers with 17.1 points per game to guide an offense that ranks 22nd nationally in scoring. Auburn has a lot of young talent to be excited about behind Brown, with, Mustapha Heron, Jared Harper and Anfernee McLemore enjoying strong starts to their respective sophomore campaigns.

Despite playing in Conference USA, the Blue Raiders are likely to be ranked highly by just about every metric come Selection Sunday, giving Auburn an opportunity to pick up a resume-boosting victory.