Auburn secures outright title, No. 1 seed in SEC Tournament following loss by Alabama

Auburn fans would never turn down the chance to be happy about an Alabama loss, whether it’s in the prestigious Iron Bowl or in any sport for that matter.

So, it’s ironic that when No. 6 Alabama let a late lead slip away against No. 5 Tennessee on Saturday afternoon in Knoxville in a stunning 79-76 loss on Jahmai Mashack’s buzzer-beating heave, it was the good folks on the Plains who were smiling widely.

Here is Mashack’s shot that put Auburn over the top in the conference:

And it wasn’t just because the hated Crimson Tide suffered a crushing SEC loss that could affect their NCAA Tournament seeding. For Auburn, the classic in Knoxville provided exactly what the top-ranked Tigers needed to clinch an outright SEC regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming SEC Tournament.

It was an altogether wonderful day for the mighty Auburn basketball program, starting with a dominant 94-78 victory at No. 17 Kentucky that improved Bruce Pearl’s machine of a team to 27-2 overall and 15-1 in the league.

If that wasn’t enough to make it a great first Saturday in March, things got even better for the Tigers when the Volunteers pulled off the magical act later in the afternoon in Knoxville. Now, the Tigers won’t have to share the SEC title, holding a 3-game lead on Alabama with 2 games left. It’s all theirs, to go with that top seed in the SEC Tournament in a few weeks.

Cory Nightingale

Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.