Welcome to March Madness in Birmingham.
Auburn fans were fired up during the Tigers’ 83-75 first-round win over Iowa in the 2023 NCAA Tournament on Thursday.
Some fans opted to go shirtless during the opening day contest — and were seen swinging their shirts around while belting out an “A-U-B-U-R-N” chant.
The crowd around two of the shirtless men appeared to enjoy the wild scene, which was captured by The Athletic’s Brendan Quinn and posted to Twitter.
No. 9 Auburn had a large presence of fans at Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Ala. — not too far from Neville Arena in Auburn, where the Tigers play home games.
The Tigers scored 52 points in the second half to defeat the Hawkeyes in the tournament’s round of 64.
It marked Auburn’s 11th consecutive win in their first-round game of the NCAA Tournament.
Johni Broome and Allen Flanigan both finished with double-doubles — and four other Auburn players scored in double figures.
Broome led the Tigers with 19 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots.
Flanigan added 10 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.
Auburn will advance to the second round and face the top-seeded Houston on Saturday.
There has been no shortage of viral moments just two days into March Madness.
A Utah State cheerleader garnered attention for her emotional reaction while the Aggies trailed Missouri by 12 points with less than two minutes to go in the second half on Thursday.
The blonde cheerleader was captured by TNT’s broadcast with tears in her eyes and her chin trembling before Utah State’s eventual 76-65 loss to Missouri.
