There's never been a bigger Iron Bowl of Basketball and the Alabama Crimson Tide can ascend to No. 1 in the AP Poll and first place in the SEC standings with a home win over the rival Auburn Tigers on Saturday afternoon at Coleman Coliseum.
The Tide enters at 21-3 and 10-1 in the SEC. Auburn sits at 22-2 and also 10-1 in the league standings. These might be the top two teams in the country and the winner will have the inside track at the SEC Championship and the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The No. 1 seed in the tournament is a big deal. It would put either Alabama or Auburn in the South Region, and the regional final would be in Atlanta, a de facto home venue for either the Crimson Tide or the Tigers.
Alabama has won seven games in a row and played one of its best games of the season offensively in Tuesday's road win over Texas. Alabama connected on 17-of-29 from three and ran away with the game en route to a 103-80 win over the Longhorns.
Auburn dropped a home game last weekend to Florida, but before that the Tigers had won 14 consecutive games.
Even with the game being played at Coleman Coliseum, it will take Alabama's best effort in order to beat Auburn. The Tigers have been the best team in the country so far this season.
Alabama basketball a slight favorite over the Auburn Tigers
Betting Odds:
Odds courtesy of FanDuel
Spread: Alabama -1.5
Over/Under: 172.5
How to Watch:
Tip Time: 3:00 PM CT
TV: ESPN
Streaming: WatchESPN
Prediction:
Vegas views this game as effectively a toss-up. Typically, the home team gets an extra three points, which means on a neutral floor Auburn would likely be favored by around two points. You can expect the rematch at Neville Arena to be around Auburn -5 or so.
Alabama has been playing well and if they can get a duplicate shooting performance like they got in Austin, then the Tide should win. If they don't, then they better do everything else well. They'll need to run Auburn off the three-point line and not let Johni Broome feast on the interior.
Nate Oats publicly called out graduate seniors Mark Sears and Grant Nelson on Friday, imploring them to stop turning the ball over. Alabama cannot afford a lot of unforced errors on Saturday against as good of a team as they'll be facing.
Alabama could have an advantage on the offensive glass where the Tigers struggle despite a big front line with Broome and Dylan Cardwell.
If Alabama can hit the glass, avoid turnovers, and shoot a decent clip from three, then home court advantage should be enough to swing the game in the Tide's favor. Auburn is certainly good enough to beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa if the Tide doesn't play well. Maybe even if they do.