Getty Image / Brandon Sumrall
Two of the SEC’s biggest rivals met on the basketball court today for a pivotal matchup in the conference.
The clash saw the nation’s 3rd ranked team, Alabama, head to Auburn to take on their in-state rival.
The game had major implications as Alabama is one of the few remaining teams who has yet to lose a game in conference play and is trying to keep space between themselves and Tennessee at the top of the conference standings.
Meanwhile, Auburn entered the day in a tie for 4th place in the SEC standings and a win over Alabama would have been big for them both in the conference and for their NCAA Tournament seeding.
Unfortunately for Auburn, they weren’t able to come away with a win in front of their home crowd.
It was a game where they were ahead much of the way. Auburn’s lead got as high as 8 points and Alabama didn’t lead until after the 15-minute mark of the second half.
In the end, they just had too much for Auburn and ended up claiming an 8-point win.
After the game, Bama’s head coach decided to pour a little bit of salt in the wound.
Alabama head coach Nate Oats said that it was nice to get the win in Auburn’s “Super Bowl”.
"I know it was their Super Bowl and so it was nice to come win over here." -Nate Oats
— Joey Blackwell (@BlackwellSports) February 11, 2023
It was clearly meant as a dig from the Crimson Tide coach, but he’s right about it. Auburn hasn’t played a bigger game all year and won’t play a bigger game until either the conference tournament or March Madness.
If they had won, Auburn’s fans would have absolutely been storming the court and this would have been by far the most impressive win on their resume.
Now they’ll have to make a bit of a run in the SEC Tournament if they’re going to get a chance at revenge.