The No. 1 seeded Auburn Tigers take on the No. 5 seed Michigan Wolverines late on Friday night in Atlanta. Tipoff is scheduled for 9:49 p.m. EST on CBS, and the Tigers are hoping the strike of midnight brings them a celebration for advancing into the Elite 8.

Auburn’s path isn’t going to be easy. The Wolverines are one of the hottest teams in the country right now, entering the dance on the back of winning the Big Ten Tournament. The winner will face the winner of the Ole Miss (6) and Michigan State (2) game which is on the undercard at 7:09 p.m. EST / 6:09 CT.

ESPN’s Jay Bilas took a look at every team in the Sweet 16 and delivered keys to advancing to the Final Four as well as each team’s biggest area of concern. With Auburn, it starts on defense.

“Tigers make the Final Four if they defend and rebound at a high level,” wrote Bilas on ESPN+. “Auburn has the depth, ball security, perimeter shooting and free throw shooting to beat anybody. When Auburn is dialed in defensively, it has all of the elements of a national championship team.”

Johni Broome and Dylan Cardwell will have their hands full with Michigan’s bigs. 7-foot-1 Vladislav Goldin and 7-foot Danny Wolf lead the Wolverines in scoring and rebounding. The Tigers will have to avoid early foul trouble. While Auburn has proven it can beat a team in multiple ways, they don’t have a lot of size beyond their two starters.

“I haven’t seen this since I watched McHale and Parish, right? These two guys are special,” Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl said on Thursday. “Goldin, in the Big Ten he was the best player on the floor almost every single night.

“And Wolf, there’s not another 7-footer in college basketball that resembles him. He’s got Larry Bird type ball handling, passing, feel. He’s just a gifted, gifted player. Obviously they work beautifully together.

“They’re going up against Dylan Cardwell and Johni Broome and Chaney Johnson, those three guys are going to be the focus of our defensive attack. Our ability to defend those two guys as well as No. 42 comes off the bench and shoots it a little bit for them, is going to be really the difference in the outcome.”

Besides the obvious problems in stopping the opposition, Bilas listed Auburn’s biggest area of concern as the Tigers themselves. However, he seems to believe in the Tigers’ ability to reach their peak in March and April instead of January and February.

“Auburn has not played its best basketball in the past couple of weeks — yet it is still winning,” wrote Bilas. “With a renewed focus after several days at home, the Tigers can be truly special down the stretch.”

No. 1 seeds Duke and Florida cruised into the Elite 8 on Thursday night with relatively comfortable victories. Auburn’s path looks harder against the Michigan Wolverines, but they have the personnel to get it done if they play to their potential.