Nate Oats hits Kentucky with a stray when asked where he ranks Alabama winning at Auburn

Alabama coach Nate Oats seemed to make a slight dig at Kentucky following 77-69 road victory against Auburn on Saturday. Asked specifically how the victory against the Tigers compared to one earlier this season against the Wildcats, Oats pointed to the Wildcats’ struggles this season while admitting Saturday’s win ranks higher in his eyes.

“Probably this year,” he said. “We haven’t played at Kentucky this year. Did they end up winning against Georgia today? Georgia won? Yeah, Kentucky’s not easy to win at when they’re good. Not to say that they’re not good this year. They’ve just been a little inconsistent. But when Kentucky’s Kentucky and they’ve got 23,000 in there?”

Oats isn’t wrong about Kentucky underperforming this season. The Wildcats (16-9, 7-5 SEC) entered the season at No. 4 in the AP poll but now find themselves unranked and in serious danger of missing the NCAA Tournament for the second time in the past three seasons. According to a recent update from ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi, UK is among the “first four out.”

Alabama (22-3, 12-0), on the other hand, looks like a No. 1 seed. The disparity between the two teams was evident when the Crimson Tide handed the Wildcats a 78-52 blowout loss on Jan. 7.

Oats went on to compliment Auburn’s fans for making things difficult on Alabama, calling Neville Arena “the toughest environment” in the SEC. He added that he couldn’t compare it to Rupp Arena because he hasn’t played much there when both teams are good. Since taking over in the 2019-20 season, Nate Oats has a 3-3 record against Kentucky.

“I’ll say this: the environment (at Auburn) with them right on the court and the students right there, I think this is the toughest environment to play in,” he said. “Arkansas is up there.

“We haven’t really got a chance to play Kentucky when we were good. Two years ago it was COVID. We weren’t as good last year and they were a little bit better. We got to play at Kentucky when they were really good and I was an assistant at Buffalo and it wasn’t easy. But I’ll put this here at Auburn up with any win in the SEC. It’s a good environment.”

Unless they meet either in the SEC Tournament or March Madness, Alabama and Kentucky will not play again this season. Next up for the Crimson Tide is a big-time test against No. 6 Tennessee on Wednesday. As for Kentucky, it will hope to get back on track before time runs out beginning against Mississippi State on Wednesday.