AUBURN, ALA. - For the first time in 12 years, Auburn is heading to the NCAA Tournament. They are doing it with a remarkably young roster.
Eight freshmen, two sophomores, and two juniors. The Tigers do not have any seniors on this team, which means that it is built for years to come.
Auburn will be taking on the Creighton Bluejays in the first round of the tournament, a significantly older team that has seven seniors on it.
"The question is just the same question we have every time we play," Auburn head coach Brent Crouch said. "Are we going to be able to overcome our youth and inexperience? Are we going to be able to do that? And if so, I really like our chances of pulling an upset."
A big part of Auburn's success this year has been freshman pin hitter Madison Scheer, who was named to the All-SEC freshman team.
"It was so surreal, honestly overall we were pretty shocked," freshman pin hitter Scheer said on what it felt like to receive a tournament bid. "I had so much confidence in us and I thought for sure our name was going to be up there. I think at the time we were all so shocked because we didn't expect it (their selection) to come so early."
Crouch wasted no time turning this program around. In just three seasons, he did what many did not think was possible this soon.
"We are ahead of where I thought we'd be. I was shooting for top 75 in the RPI and were a good 25 spots ahead of that at the end of the year," Crouch said. "Every rebuilding challenge is different, and this was a weird one because of COVID. I think we really took advantage of the chances that presented themselves.
Auburn will take on Creighton on Friday at 6:00 p.m. C.T.
