As No. 1 Auburn and No. 7 Alabama prepare for a rematch of the Tigers' 94-85 win back on Feb. 15, the Crimson Tide are looking to gain some momentum entering the SEC Tournament. That loss to Auburn was the first of four in a six-game span for Nate Oats' team, who now find themselves as the three-seed in the SEC after a loss at the buzzer to Tennessee over the weekend and a home loss to Florida on Wednesday night in which the Crimson Tide were dominated on the glass.
Auburn (27-3, 15-2 SEC), on the other hand, is coming off a loss to No. 22 Texas A&M on Tuesday, which snapped a six-game winning streak. Other than a 90-81 loss to Florida on Feb. 8, it has been an impressive run through conference play for the Tigers, who have already clinched the outright SEC regular-season title.
Auburn is 5-2 against the other top six teams in the SEC, with wins over Missouri, Tennessee and Alabama plus a sweep of Ole Miss. The two losses were to Florida and Texas A&M. Led by National Player of the Year candidate Johni Broome (18 PPG, 10.7 RPG), Auburn is in position to be the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, thanks to its Division-I best 15 Quad 1 wins.
The Crimson Tide (23-7, 12-5 SEC) enter Saturday's rivalry game with a 1-5 record against those six teams, with the lone win coming against Texas A&M. While the performance against top tier teams in the SEC has left room for improvement, Alabama is the highest-scoring team in the country (91.1 PPG) and averages the most rebounds per game in Division I (43.4 RPG). Senior guard Mark Sears (19.5 PPG) leads the team in scoring, while senior forward Grant Nelson has posted seven double-doubles.
Should Alabama's poor record against the top six teams in the conference be concerning?
Although the Crimson Tide have lost to the top teams in the SEC, it is not like they're floating by with a shoddy resume. Keep in mind, UConn ran through non-conference but eight conference games during the 2022-23 season before going on to win the first of two straight national championships. Teams are more familiar with one another in conference play, which can sometimes lead to teams like UConn or Alabama suffering some setbacks. You also have to factor in the difficulty of the SEC, which has proven to be the deepest conference in college basketball this season with 12 teams currently projected to make the NCAA Tournament.
Alabama's defense has been a major concern all season and especially down the stretch. The Crimson Tide have the pieces to go on another run in March, but with opponents scoring north of 80 points (and even 100 or more points, like Missouri did on Feb. 19), their defense will dictate how far they go in the NCAA Tournament.
As Auburn and Alabama meet once more on Saturday, the Tigers may have won the first meeting and possess a better record against the top teams in the SEC. However, as teams like UConn and even the 2023-24 Alabama teams have showed us following some late-season losses, getting hot when it matters most is sometimes all you need this time of year.