Nate Oats takes shot at Auburn Arena capacity size, impact on atmosphere

Alabama and Auburn are set for a rematch on Tuesday. Ahead of the game, Alabama head coach Nate Oats took a shot at Auburn Arena, where Tuesday’s game will take place.

Oats commented on the capacity of Auburn Arena, saying that they don’t seat many fans inside. But that didn’t stop him from also acknowledging that the atmosphere that Alabama will have to prepare for.

“We have a little bit larger of an arena than they (Auburn) have and they traveled over here a little bit,” Oats said, via Michael Casagrande. “Hopefully we sneak a few Alabama fans in over there. That place is going to be nuts because they don’t seat many people.

“What does it seat? 8,000? Is that right? 8-10,000 and they’re the No. 1 team in the country, they’re going to sell the place out pretty much every night. That’s what they’re doing.”

Tuesday’s game between Alabama and Auburn is set for a 9 p.m. ET tip. The game will serve as a rematch between the two teams. Alabama hosted Auburn on Tuesday, January 11, where the Tigers escaped with a close 81-77 victory. Oats and Alabama will be hoping to reverse that result against Auburn this week.

Entering the matchup, Alabama is riding high after taking down No. 4 Baylor on Saturday, 87-78. Alabama is unranked in the latest AP Poll and Coaches Poll. Auburn, the top ranked team in both polls, is coming off of a 2-0 week with wins over Missouri and Oklahoma.

Oats is hoping to ride Alabama’s momentum into Auburn Arena

Entering Saturday’s game against Baylor, Alabama was struggling. The Crimson Tide had lost four out of their last six games, including a bad loss against Georgia on last Tuesday. But Alabama controlled the game throughout and walked away with a huge upset victory over Baylor.

Prior to the win, Oats said that he wanted his Alabama players to get back to the basics, noting that the team needs to have fun. With a big win now in the books, Oats will be hoping to ride that momentum into another big game against Auburn.

“I told our guys before the game, we needed to get back to having fun,” Oats said of his message to his Alabama players prior to Saturday’s upset over Baylor. “This is why you started playing basketball when you were a kid.

“That was a lot of fun.”