The Evolution of Alabama vs Auburn on the Hardwood
The Iron Bowl.
It's one of the most recognizable rivalries in all of sports. Alabama vs Auburn. Roll Tide vs War Eagle. Crimson and white vs orange and blue.
But when most hear Alabama and Auburn, they think about the gridiron. The rivalry that brought us the Kick Six, 4th-and-31, and plenty of other iconic moments in college football.
That is, until recently. Now, when the Crimson Tide and the Tigers meet on the hardwood, people know it's going to be one of the most ferocious, fiercest, fieriest games in all of college basketball.
But how did it get here?
Back before both program's respective head coaches got to their programs, there was zero talk about either Alabama or Auburn on a national scale when it came to college basketball. Before Nate Oats, Alabama was a program drowning in mediocrity, while Auburn before Bruce Pearl was suffering as a staple performer on Wednesday night of the SEC Tournament.
Pearl arrived on the Plains in 2014, bringing a wealth of coaching experience and accolades with him. Since then, he's transformed the Auburn basketball program into one of the nation's best, and most consistent. Auburn is now a mainstay in the AP Top 25, and has won three SEC championships during his tenure: two regular season and one tournament.
For Alabama, it was obvious to some that Pearl's hiring was going to not only be successful, but act as a spur to motivate a desire for improvement on the Crimson Tide's end.
"I knew when Bruce Pearl got hired it was going to force Alabama to be better than it was," said Chris Stewart, the voice of Alabama basketball on the Crimson Tide Sports Network. "That’s not a shot at Anthony Grant, its not a shot at Avery Johnson, but it’s just a fact, we knew it was going to raise the stakes when Bruce took over at Auburn."
The stakes were raised even more in March of 2019, when the two programs had seasons with polar opposite endings. Alabama lost in the first round of the NIT — again — this time to Norfolk State. Meanwhile, Auburn caught fire as a 5-seed in the NCAA Tournament and made the program's and the state's first-ever Final Four appearance.
"It certainly elevated basketball at Auburn to much more of a tough ticket at Neville Arena," said Andy Burcham, the radio voice of Auburn basketball. "Now Auburn has 49 consecutive sellouts in at home and it’s easier for fans to get a ticket on the road than it is at home. I think that Final Four team gave Auburn and its fans a taste of what this program can be.
Alabama fired head coach Avery Johnson after that season, and brought in Nate Oats, a relatively unknown commodity from Buffalo who loved analytics and a fast-paced offense.
Oats injected new life into the dormant Crimson Tide basketball program, and has taken it to new heights not seen in decades. In just four full years at the helm, Oats has won four SEC championships: two regular season and two tournaments, as well as made two appearances in the Sweet Sixteen.
"It has intensified the rivalry in every regard," Burcham said. "From a fan perspective, from the teams’ perspective, I think from the coaches’ perspective. And I think it’s elevated the rivalry in basketball to a national perspective because of the success of these programs."
Now, the path to championships, trophies, and banners in the Southeastern Conference runs through the Yellowhammer State. Of the last 11 regular season or tournament championships given out by the SEC, seven of them have come from either Alabama or Auburn, including every one of the last six.
"You look at the success in this league, and the state of Alabama has had more success than anywhere else between Auburn and Alabama of late, and that includes Kentucky and Tennessee and Arkansas and anywhere else. This state isn’t just a football state anymore," Burcham said.
And with the simultaneous rise of both teams has come an uptick in competitiveness, intensity, and talent participating in this game year in and year out. In the past six seasons, there have been nine first round NBA Draft picks that have played in the Alabama-Auburn basketball rivalry. Naturally, that much talent leads to charged matchups that feature elite-level play on both sides.
The series has already produced some iconic moments in just a few seasons of its peak. Take just the past two seasons: in 2022, Auburn and future top-3 pick Jabari Smith waltzed into Coleman Coliseum, beat Alabama, and proceeded to strike the "crimson crane" pose at midcourt to the dismay of Crimson Tide fans, who had allowed a healthy contingent of Auburn fans to invade their building that night. Auburn completed the sweep a few weeks later, and celebrated by waving a broom around midcourt on their home floor.
That scene was followed up in 2023 with two instant classics, the first being a hard-fought road win for Alabama after Neville Arena hosted College GameDay. The second was one of the best games in the history of the series, a 17-point comeback win for the Crimson Tide in overtime that clinched the SEC regular season title in March of last year.
"It reminds me, frankly quite a bit of my teenage years when I really fell in love with college basketball," Stewart said. "That’s when Coach Sanderson had it rolling at 'Bama, Sonny Smith had it going to Auburn, Gene Bartow had it going at UAB, and people were excited about basketball again."
The 1980's were the golden age of basketball in the state of Alabama, one that was once thought to be the pinnacle of what the sport could become in the state. But with what we're seeing now with Pearl and Oats so far in the 2020's, it's possible that the surface has hardly been scratched.
With the success of the two programs, the country has started to take notice of the unrivaled passion that each Alabama-Auburn game is played with. The NCAA's Andy Katz ranked tonight's meeting between the two teams as the game of the week in college basketball, but should it stop there?
"It probably doesn’t have the history of a Duke-North Carolina. It doesn’t have the history of the Iron Bowl in football, but right now in 2024, it’s become as good a rivalry as there is in college basketball," Burcham said. "Folks in the Tar Heel State are going to argue about that, but I think it’s as good as there is. [...] It’s circled on the schedule twice every year. Those are going to be huge, huge games for both of these schools, and I don’t see that changing any time soon."
It's Alabama and it's Auburn. Normally, that's enough to get your blood flowing. But add in the juice of Oats' and Pearl's successes, the dynamic home crowd regardless of venue, and the talent level that will be on the floor, and you get one of the most anticipated matchups in the entire sport.
"When I came to Auburn in 1988, I did women’s basketball here for 31 years," Burcham said. "I can remember walking into Joe Ciampi’s office, the first time Alabama and Auburn played during my career. I’ll never forget what he told me. He said ‘I don’t care what you’re playing. It could be Tiddlywinks, it means a great deal when Auburn and Alabama are playing.’ You can talk to any coach, in any sport, in any year, they’re going to say the same thing. We are seeing it year in and year out in basketball. Take a look at the games that have been played, and the excitement of these games, and the heartbreak of these games. It’s a great rivalry, and it’s only gotten better in the last five to six years."
When the ball is tipped on Wednesday night, it won’t just be another game. It’ll be all-out war for 40 minutes. Elation for the victor, heartbreak for the loser. All before they get to do it all over again in two weeks.
