The Auburn Tigers will be playing in front of a prime time ‘College GameDay’ crowd for the second time in three weeks on Saturday, although this iteration may be a bit more hostile.
ESPN’s premier basketball pregame show, which visited the Plains for Auburn’s matchup with top five ranked Tennessee in January, will be on campus in Tuscaloosa for the biggest game of the college basketball season to date, when top-ranked Auburn heads to Coleman Coliseum to go to battle with No. 2 Alabama. Saturday will mark the first time ever the ‘Iron Bowl of Basketball’ has featured a pair of top 10 ranked teams. It is just the fifth time both squads have been ranked for a meeting.
Four of those five matchups have happened under the leadership of Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl and Alabama’s Nate Oats. Both leading men have rejuvinated their programs, and Alabama basketball as a whole, specifically over the past half-decade. Since 2017, the programs have combined for four SEC regular season titles, four SEC Tournament titles and two Final Fours.
Alabama’s run to the Final Four happened just last season, while Auburn has been unable to stay in the NCAA Tournament past the opening weekend since its appearance in the National Semifinal in 2019. The Tigers are hoping to upend that trend this season, and a win on the road against their rival could jumpstart another magical run back to the biggest stage in college basketball this season.
‘College GameDay’ is set to air at 9 am CST, with the game tipping off a few hours later, at 3 pm CST. It will be the second time, and second year in a row, Rece Davis, Jay Bilas, Andraya Carter, Seth Greenberg, Jay Williams and company host from Tuscaloosa. Alabama lost their inaugural ‘GameDay’ game last season against Tennessee.
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