Alabama might have huge advantage over Auburn in college basketball game of the year
By Quinn Everts
When No.1-ranked Auburn travels the 150-ish miles Northwest to Tuscaloosa on Saturday to clash with No.2-ranked Alabama, the Tigers will be up against a few challenges. The first is a sold out Coleman Coliseum, which will be ready to pop for 40 minutes — and the second will be history.
According to Opta Stats, the top-ranked team has never beaten the second-ranked team in the five regular season matchups between the two top teams in men's college hoops.
Today's meeting between Auburn and Alabama will be the sixth men's college basketball game all-time between teams ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the AP Poll from the same state.
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) February 15, 2025
The team ranked second won each of the first five such meetings. pic.twitter.com/rp6dU8HcMe
A great rivalry goes to the next level
This game isn't going to ruin the season for whichever team loses — if the Crimson Tide win, the teams will likely switch places in the AP Top 25. If the Tigers pull out a victory on the road, I assume the teams will stay where they're currently reside in the rankings. Both teams will likely be No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament next month.
Still... this game deserves the hype it's receiving. The first non-neutral site No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup in men's college basketball since 2016 is also a gargantuan rivalry between two rabid fanbases who have gotten used to confidently calling themselves basketball schools in addition to the traditional labels of football schools.
If the hype wasn't real enough, this game will also feature something rare in rivalry games — a player who transferred from one school to the other. Aden Holloway entered Auburn as a five-star recruit in the class of 2023. Now, after transferring to hated rival Alabama, Holloway will take on his former team for the first time... and no one's forgotten. Auburn coach Bruce Pearl compared it to the quarterback of one of these programs transferring to the other. Alabama coach Nate Oats said it's a "big game" for Holloway, who is shooting over 42 percent from 3-point range with the Crimson Tide.
This rivalry has always meant something in the state of Alabama, and recently it's meant a lot for the SEC. Now, it means an awful lot for college basketball as a whole, and Auburn will be fighting history even as the top-ranked team in the country.