Yale punched its ticket to the Big Dance in the most improbable way, winning the Ivy League Conference Tournament by outscoring Brown 7-1 in the final 22 seconds, a run that was highlighted by a buzzer-beater
Not many gave the 13-seed Bulldogs a chance against the 4-seed Auburn Tigers in Friday’s First Round. In fact, the March Madness studio crew joked how the game would be a sure-fire blowout. Auburn’s most notable alumni, Charles Barkley, wasn't concerned at all.
Well, nobody let Yale in on the joke as it ended up with the last laugh in a 78-76 upset over Auburn. Junior guard John Poulakidas did his best Jake Gohlke impersonation to spur the Ivy League champions over the SEC champs. Poulakidas set a career-high with 28 points, including 16 in the second half. It's only the school's second-ever win in the NCAA Tournament. Their first came in an upset over Baylor in 2016.
Yale closed as roughly a 13.5- or 14.5-point 'dog and was upward of +800 to win straight up. The public expected the Tigers to win easily as 70% of the bets and 65% of the money backed Auburn to cover the large spread. Additionally, 85% of the moneyline money was on Auburn despite significant juice as high as -924. The Tigers were 20-13-0 ATS heading into the game, while the Bulldogs were just 15-10-3.
Yale will now play the 5-seed San Diego State Aztecs, who barely avoided an upset earlier in the day in a 69-65 win over 12-seed UAB. Meanwhile, SEC fans will lick their wounds as they made dubious history. Kentucky lost as a 13.5-point favorite on Thursday. As a result, the SEC became the first conference since 1993 to have two teams lose outright as double-digit favorites.
