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Auburn and Alabama both dominated in their mid-week opponents on Tuesday night, setting the scene for an Iron Bowl matchup for the ages on Saturday.
The Tigers defeated Vanderbilt 80-68 in Nashville behind an impressive scoring performance from 3 players: Denver Jones (21), Chaney Johnson (20) and Johni Broome (17). As a team, Auburn shot over 51% from the floor and 37% from 3-point range. Perhaps most importantly, the Tigers limited Vandy to just 3-of-17 shooting from long range.
As for Alabama, the Crimson Tide went into Austin, Texas, and thrashed the Longhorns 103-80 on their own floor. Five different Alabama players scored in double figures as the Tide managed 1.435 points per possession, according to BartTorvik. That’s Alabama’s highest total for a single game since its season-opener against UNC Asheville.
Those victories pave the way for a historic matchup between these Iron Bowl rivals. Auburn and Alabama each hold the top 2 spots in this week’s AP Top 25 poll, with the Tigers at No. 1. In the coaches poll, however, it’s flipped — the Crimson Tide earned the No. 1 spot this week.
That means Saturday’s game will be a matchup of the No. 1 teams in the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll for the first time since 2016 when Kansas out-lasted Oklahoma in a memorable triple-overtime game at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence.
Perhaps more importantly, though, are the stakes within the SEC standings. The winner of Auburn vs. Alabama will be in the driver’s seat to take home the SEC regular-season title title this year. Both teams enter this game with just 1 conference loss (no other SEC team has fewer than 3 defeats on the year).
Of course, this is the first of 2 guaranteed meetings between Auburn and Alabama this season. After facing off in Tuscaloosa this weekend, these teams will battle again in Auburn on March 8 to finish out the regular season. It’s possible that game will be what determines the SEC’s regular-season champion for 2024-25.
As of now, Auburn is favored in the betting markets. According to the latest odds from BetMGM, Auburn is a -235 favorite to win the SEC’s regular season title. Alabama isn’t far behind, though, at +180 as of Wednesday morning.
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Tipoff is set for 4 p.m. ET on Saturday afternoon.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
