Yale Stuns Auburn, Burns Public in NCAA Tournament Upset

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.