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Nate Oats, Bruce Pearl address what’s on the line in Alabama-Auburn rematch
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Nate Oats and Bruce Pearl struck noticeably different tones on Friday when they addressed their regular-season finale at Neville Arena.
Auburn (27-3, 15-2 SEC) won the first meeting over Alabama (23-7, 12-5) in Tuscaloosa, 94-85, last month. When the in-state rivals met then, they were the top-ranked teams in college basketball, the top 2 overall seeds in the NCAA Tournament selection committee’s early bracket, and locked in a tug-of-war for the lead in the SEC regular-season title race.
On Saturday, the second IBOB of the season has different stakes. Auburn has already clinched regular-season title and the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament. The Tigers also appear to be a lock for the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. Alabama has already secured a double bye in the conference tourney.
When he met with reporters on Friday, Oats said Alabama doesn’t have much on the line besides pride.
“There’s really nothing other than either a No. 3 or a No. 4 seed and whatever the NCAA Tournament committee wants to decide on our résumé,” the Alabama head coach said. “Obviously a win here would help against the No. 1 team in the country. I still think we’ve got a pretty good résumé, looking at where our seeding will be for the NCAA Tournament.
“There’s not a whole lot riding on this game other than some pride, which Alabama-Auburn rivalry, there’s obviously some pride in this game. Sure both teams may be in different circumstances and think about resting their guys. But unless somebody is really banged up bad, our guys are planning on playing in this game.”
The Crimson Tide were 21-3 heading into the first meeting with Auburn. Since Feb. 15, Alabama has played 6 straight games against ranked opponents and has gone 2-4. There’s some consternation that Alabama is limping into the postseason, but Oats is keeping even-keeled.
He noted that Alabama lost 4 of its final 6 games leading into last season’s NCAA Tournament and still made the Final Four.
“We’ve just got to get our confidence back that we can play with the best teams in the country, like we’ve shown we could,” Oats said. “We knew this stretch would be tough, but we didn’t expect to take as many losses as we have.”
Meanwhile, Auburn’s head basketball coach spoke of Saturday’s rematch with Alabama with a sense of urgency.
“We talk a lot about history,” Pearl said. “We have to win this last game if we’re going to be the winningest team in the regular season in the history of Auburn Basketball.”
With 27 wins, Auburn is just 3 away from matching the all-time record for wins in a single season in Auburn history. A win would also give Auburn a new program record for SEC victories in a season (16). Those 16 league victories would tie for the sixth-most in SEC history.
Auburn is the outright favorite to win the national championship, according to the latest March Madness odds. At BetMGM, the Tigers are +325. But after losing to Texas A&M on Tuesday — a defeat that snapped a 6-game win streak — Pearl is preaching a steely focus on the Tide.
“We have to play brilliantly tomorrow,” Pearl said.
The game is set to tip off at 2:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. Auburn is an 8.5-point favorite.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
