Yale is coming into this game with a 22-9 record this season and they were 11-3 in their conference. They had the 2nd best record in their conference during the regular season and won their conference tournament to get here, but they are also very fortunate to be here as they were trailing their conference tournament final for most of the game and only won it by 1 point on a buzzer beating 3 point shot. Their fate could be very different if that shot does not fall and they have not had success against the stronger teams they have faced this year. Their 2 strongest opponents in their non-conference schedule were their games against Kansas and Gonzaga, losing both of those games by 15+ points. They are going up against an Auburn team that is 27-7 this season and they were 13-5 in the conference. They had the 2nd best conference record during the regular season and they won their conference tournament as they have been heating up recently. They won 2 of their 3 games in the conference tournament by 15+ points, including the finals, and they have won their last 6 straight games. Auburn has been one of the better teams in the SEC all season but they were never ranked in the top 10 and they have been playing with a chip on their shoulder as they are a team that has not been talked a lot about with the competition in their conference this season. Auburn is going to be trying to make a statement in this 1st game of the tournament and they have been gaining a lot of steam recently. They also have one of the best shooting offenses in the country from the field and beyond the arc, Yale will not be able to keep up in this game. Auburn will cover the spread here.