The Auburn Tigers’ bid to play in the NCAA Tournament officially came to a close on Selection Sunday, with the team falling just short of the field in Steven Pearl’s first season following a dreadful stretch in February and early exit in the SEC Tournament.

While the Tigers are not going to the big dance, they did accept their bid to the NIT where they are the No. 1 overall seed and will face the South Alabama Jaguars on Tuesday night in a rare in-state postseason matchup.

Things will tip off at Neville Arena on Tuesday night at 9:00 CST, and the winner is going to face the winner of No. 4 Seattle University and No. 5 St. Thomas (MN). If Auburn wins on Tuesday, the second round game would be at Neville Arena as well.

South Alabama finished the season 21-11 overall and 11-7 in the Sun Belt Conference, failing to win the conference tournament which would have given them an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Auburn meanwhile finishes the year with a record of 17-16 and 7-11 in conference play, marks which were not able to get them into the tournament despite having one of the hardest schedules in the country.

While everyone is of course disappointed with the way things ended for the Tigers, the NIT represents an opportunity for a fresh start and to build some momentum into next year, while also providing Pearl with some additional coaching experience.

It should be a good one between the Tigers and Jaguars on Tuesday night.