Mark Wiedmer: Bama, Auburn No Longer Football Schools Only

The Iron Bowl of Basketball.

According to an ESPN story this week, neither Alabama or Auburn want to play up that term. But that’s exactly what is taking place today at 4 p.m. EST inside Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

No. 1 Auburn will face No. 2 Alabama on the hardwood with nothing more at stake than next week’s No. 1 ranking in the Associated Press poll and the top overall seed (for now) in next month’s Southeastern Conference Tournament in Nashville.

It’s crazy, of course.

Two of the SEC’s most tradition-rich football programs becoming its best basketball schools. Amazing what money and priorities can do these days. As Auburn coach and former Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl succinctly noted this week: “There was a time when, if you were from this part of the country _ Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi _ you had to go to Kansas or Kentucky or North Carolina or Duke because you couldn’t come to these schools, win championships, become a pro and stay home. Now, you can.”

Indeed, both Auburn (2019) and Alabama (2024) have been to the Final Four since traditional SEC juggernaut Kentucky (2015) last got there. In something of a badge of bad luck, both AU’s and UA’s two best hoops seasons were done in by the eventual national champs. And in at least one case for each, horrible officiating blunders were the chief culprits.

Auburn’s is the most recent and possibly more egregious one. Inside the final five seconds of its 2019 Final Four semifinal match against eventual champ Virginia, the Cavs’ Ty Jerome appeared to double-dribble the basketball, which would have handed the game to the Tigers. But it wasn’t called, which then led to a foul that was called as Virginia’s Kyle Guy launched a last-second 3-pointer. Whether that was a good call or a bad call probably depended on which orange-and-blue school you supported _ Auburn or Virginia. But when Guy hit all three free throws, UVA won 63-62 to advance to a national championship game against Texas Tech, which the Wahoos also won.

Alabama’s heartbreak moment is nearly 50 years ago in a 1976 regional semifinal game against Indiana in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Trailing by two points late against the undefeated Hoosiers, Bama found center Leon Douglas all alone streaking for the basket. The ball went to Douglas who was met near the rim by a moving IU center Kent Benson. From halfcourt, official Booker Turner called a charge on Douglas against the Flop King Benson, which waved off Douglas’s goal. IU went on to win 74-69, its closest victory in that year’s tourney.

Auburn also lost 84-76 in a 1986 regional final to eventual champ Louisville and freshman sensation “Never Nervous Pervis” Ellison. Alabama, of course, lost last year in a Final Four semifinal to eventual champ Connecticut after leading the Huskies at times. So both the Tigers and Crimson Tide have had their two best NCAA runs done in by the eventual national champs. Tough draws. It happens.

But what will happen this afternoon? Will Bama, the team in constant motion, the team that’s already scored 100 points or more seven times, prevail on its home court? Or will Auburn, so solid all season on both ends of the court _ No. 1 in offensive efficiency and in the top 20 in defensive efficiency according to metrics maven KenPom _ deliver the kind of balanced brilliance it has shown all season in beating such powers as Houston,Purdue, Memphis and Iowa State?

And as a treat for hoops fans the nation over, whatever happens today, we get to experience this rivalry again in Auburn’s famed “The Jungle” arena at 2 p.m. EST on March 8. Ear plugs and Dramamine are advised, for the Jungle will be loud and rocking.

Both have to be Final Four favorites at this moment, though one can’t help but wonder if the wear-and-tear of playing in a league in which ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi currently places 14 of the league’s 16 teams in the NCAA Tournament field might not wear down some of these teams by March.

Still, both Bama and Auburn are so deep that Lunardi says, “Alabama’s second five could probably make the tournament.” When it comes to Auburn, the Tigers not only count on nine seniors, but have 10 players averaging at least 10 minutes each per game, and have who many believe will be the national player of the year in center Johni Broome.

On a Birmingham radio show this past week, Auburn grad Charles Barkley said, “Bruce Pearl is never going to be outcoached,” and that is probably true. But Florida beat Auburn last week on the Tigers’ home court with a style of play remarkably similar to Bama coach Nate Oats’ run-and-gun approach.

Assuming the Tide hits 12 or more 3-pointers, Bama should win this one 95-90 to become the nation’s No. 1 team on Monday. Then, on March 8 in AU’s Jungle, expect Auburn to take that ranking back.

It’s worth noting that the last time teams ranked No. 1 and 2 out of the same conference played, a No. 1 Kansas team beat a No. 2 Oklahoma squad at KU by a 109-106 score in triple overtime in 2016. If today’s game in T-town is close to as good as that one, all of college basketball will be counting down the days until the Iron Bowl of Basketball visits Auburn.

(Contact Mark Wiedmer at [email protected])