There has never been a No. 1 vs No. 2 matchup between two SEC teams, until today. Most people would have thought that teams like Kentucky, Florida, or Tennessee would be involved, but no, it’s Auburn and it’s Alabama.

Basketball in the SEC runs through the state of Alabama. From the 2020 through 2024, Auburn or Alabama have won the SEC regular season championship or the conference tournament Championship. With Alabama winning both in 2020-21 and in 2022-23.

The stakes have never been this high in this matchup. Alabama leads the all-time series in this basketball rivalry 101-67, and it has been a very back and forth over the last few years, with both of these schools elevating their programs so much.

For Auburn the key is Johni Broome, who hasn’t looked that great in the last few games, and has looked pretty banged up. It seems like he has never truly recovered from the injury he sustained against South Carolina.

Guard Chad Baker-Mazara looked horrible against Vanderbilt, playing 28 mins and finishing 0-4 from beyond the arc on his way to 0 points in the game. He is going to be the key, if he can play well the Tide might be in a little trouble, however he has to maintain is composure.

The twenty-five year old has been known to have a hot head going back to Auburn’s first-round exit against Yale last year. And even in the Oklahoma game, he was getting into it with freshman guard Jeremiah Fears and would ultimately foul out because of his lack of self control.

Against Vanderbilt while Chad Baker-Mazara was taking the game off, Chaney Johnson and Denver Jones stepped up for the Tigers. Johnson finished the game with 20 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, while Jones finished with 21 points, including 5-7 from the beyond the 3-point line. This Auburn needs some of these guys that haven’t stepped up all season to play well if they expect to win this game.

On the Alabama side, the Tide have found their stride since the slip up at home against Ole Miss. Nate Oats’s team has gone on the road to beat Kentucky, Mississippi St, a red-hot Arkansas Team, while also  dominating Texas in the ;Longhorn State’.

In that Texas game, Jarin Stevenson finally shot the ball well after struggling all year, going for 22 points and connecting on 4-5 from beyond the arc. This Alabama team has so many lineup combinations that they throw at opposing teams because of their great depth, and everyone on the team gets at least 10 minutes each contest.

Nate Oats has been masterful at figuring out who it hot shooting and who is not, even benching reigning SEC Player of the Year Mark Sears at the half against LSU when they where only winning by 2 points.

Aden Holloway has been playing very well for the Crimson Tide, shooting 41.2% from 3-point range and is obviously going up against his former team, who he played for freshman year. I have a feeling he could go off in this revenge game.

In this Nate Oats system, the sophomore guard fits a lot better than he did with Auburn. The combination of Holloway and Philon has been deadly for the Crimson Tide, which is key for when Mark Sears needs a rest.

Sears is due for a big game, and really hasn’t looked that good in these last five games, only amassing 20 points one time in the last five while having a bit of turnover problem. If Alabama is going to win this game they need a vintage Mark Sears performance.

A sneaky player to have a big game for the Crimson Tide is Mo Dioubate, who has been playing really well but has made some very clutch plays down the stretch of some of these games, including a steal to put the Mississippi State game in the bag. Along with his great defense he has been able to start scoring double digits only not scoring double digits in two of the last six games.

Game Pick –

Alabama -1.5 (-120) on FanDuel

O 172.5 (-110) on FanDuel