Basketball has always played second fiddle in the football-crazed state of Alabama. It will always be a state where football is king, but Nate Oats and Bruce Pearl have done everything they can to turn Alabama into a basketball state. They have their teams at the absolute pinnacle of their respective program histories heading into the biggest Iron Bowl of Basketball ever on Saturday afternoon in Tuscaloosa.
Oats and Pearl have legitimate arguments as the best coaches in the history of Alabama and Auburn basketball already. They both have led their programs to heights never before reached. Pearl got Auburn to the 2019 Final Four, a first in program history. And Alabama fans should be thankful for it. It was Pearl leading Auburn's rise that made Greg Byrne get serious about basketball at Alabama.
The Crimson Tide hired Nate Oats from Buffalo that offseason in an outside-the-box move that quickly paid dividends. In his sixth season as Alabama's head coach, Oats has led Alabama to two SEC regular season and two SEC Tournament titles. They've gone to the Sweet 16 three times and finally busted through the program's glass ceiling last March with a Final Four run.
Two rivals being at the peak of their powers at the same time is rare. It's the zenith of basketball in this state, something long-time fans of both programs still have trouble believing.
Sonny Smith led Auburn to unprecedented success in the 80s, but following his tenure Auburn wandered the wilderness for a long time. Between 1989 and 2017, the Tigers made the NCAA Tournament just three times. When Pearl was hired, Auburn was 11 years removed from its last tournament berth, a streak that would stretch to 14 years during the rebuild before Pearl got them to the dance in 2018. The next year he had the Tigers in the Final Four.
Auburn hasn't gotten out of the first weekend of the tournament since the Final Four run, but they won the SEC regular season crown in 2022 and won the SEC Tournament last year.
Alabama was similarly wandering the wilderness before Oats arrived in Tuscaloosa. Mark Gottfried led the program to a nice run of success in the early 2000s, making the NCAA Tournament five consecutive seasons and getting to the Elite 8 for the first time in 2004. But between 2007 and 2021, the Tide made the tournament just two times.
Alabama will be in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth straight season this year. It's the best run for the program since Wimp Sanderson and the Plaid Palace. The Tide made six straight NCAA appearances between 1982-1987 and 10 out of 11 times between 1982-1992. Until now, that was the golden age of Alabama basketball.
Like Pearl, Oats has taken the Crimson Tide to heights most of us never believed to be possible. Being a consistent tournament team at Alabama is a huge accomplishment. Removing the bubble anxiety that was a yearly tradition for this program under Avery Johnson and Anthony Grant has been big for my mental health.
It's still taking some getting used to that Alabama is a legitimate contender for a national title in men's basketball, though. Two years ago the team entered the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed. Shot variance got the best of them in the Sweet 16 but that was still arguably the most talented team in program history, headlined by No. 2 overall pick Brandon Miller and another first-rounder in Noah Clowney.
This year's team doesn't have the same star power. There's no Miller on this year's squad, though freshman guard Labaron Philon is a projected first-round pick. But Alabama has the depth and experience that makes them dangerous.
Auburn is similar. There are no projected first-rounders on the roster; just fringe draft guys like Johni Broome. But the Tigers have one of the oldest rosters in the country and have proven collegiate players at every position along with an elite freshman guard in Tahaad Pettiford.
Both teams are 10-1 in SEC play and projected No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament. It would be the first time since 1999 and second time overall the Tigers have been a No. 1 seed. It would be the second time for Alabama too, but also the second time in the last three seasons.
And for the first time between the two schools - and the first time in SEC history - it will be No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the AP Poll meeting on the hardwood on Saturday at Coleman Coliseum.
Two titans in college basketball. Two teams that aren't blue bloods but are new bloods. Two of the most consistent programs over the last five years and two teams fully capable of winning the whole thing. They're both battle-tested and neither will blink in the face of adversity.
This is the biggest Iron Bowl of Basketball in the series history. That likely won't be true for very long. It could be replaced by the regular season finale at Auburn if the SEC Championship is on the line. That could then get replaced if the two meet for a third time in the SEC Tournament Championship. And if the two teams meet in the Final Four or in the National Championship Game, those other matchups will look insignificant in comparison.
The golden era of basketball in the state is upon us.