Auburn, Duke, Houston, Florida top men's NCAA tournament field - ESPN

The Auburn Tigers, led by SEC Player of the Year Johni Broome, were chosen as the No. 1 overall seed for the NCAA tournament Sunday, with conference champions Duke (ACC), Houston (Big 12) and Florida (SEC) also tabbed as 1-seeds by the selection committee.

The selection committee favored Auburn, which won the SEC regular-season title despite three losses in its last four games, as well as a loss to Duke in the lone meeting between the teams.

Duke (+320), however, was listed as the favorite at ESPN BET to win the men's NCAA tournament shortly after the bracket was released, while Florida (+450) had the second-shortest odds.

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The SEC, which last won a men's basketball national championship in 2012, made NCAA tournament history with 14 representatives among the 68 teams to make the field. The highest prior mark was the Big East's 11 bids in 2011.

In something of a surprise, both North Carolina (22-13) and Texas (19-15) slid in off the bubble, while Indiana, West Virginia and Boise State did not.

Auburn (28-5) will be the top seed in the South Region and will face the Alabama State-St. Francis winner in Thursday's first round in Lexington, Kentucky.

The Tigers faltered down the stretch, including a 70-65 defeat to Tennessee in the semifinals of the SEC tournament Saturday.

«We lost to Alabama, Tennessee and at Texas A&M — yeah, we're panicked,» Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said sarcastically, when asked about the past couple of weeks. «I can hardly wait 'til next weekend to start playing again.»

Auburn was joined in the South by second-seeded Michigan State, third-seeded Iowa State and a familiar foe in No. 4 seed Texas A&M.