Nate Oats evaluates how Alabama-Auburn basketball rivalry has evolved

When Alabama and No. 8 Auburn meet on Wednesday night, there will be plenty at stake in a series that has quickly turned into one of the nation’s preeminent rivalries.

Football tends to dominate the headlines when it comes to the two programs, but both basketball programs have been elite the last several years. And going into Wednesday night’s contest, the early lead in the SEC standings will be in the balance.

“It’s a big rivalry game that, and coach (Bruce) Pearl made the point to me maybe my second year, this game’s always been a big game in the state of Alabama,” Tide coach Nate Oats said. “It’s taken it from a big game in the state of Alabama to a big game in the country.”

The last 15 meetings have produced an almost dead-even split, with Alabama winning eight and Auburn winning seven. The Crimson Tide have won the last two meetings, though both were competitive.

Auburn will be favored this year, even playing on the road at Alabama.

“Coach Pearl came in, turned that program completely around,” Oats said. “You look at where it was before he got here, it was at the bottom of this league. The last three years the regular-season championships have been totally in the SEC, have been totally in the state of Alabama. We’ve got two of them, they’ve got one.”

That makes the stakes quite high.

Shoot, this season Auburn enters riding a perfect 5-0 start to league play, the only team in that position. Alabama trails at 4-1. So the winner will provide a significant swing, one way or the other.

“They’re in first place in the league, we’re one game behind them,” Oats said. “If they beat us they’re two games out and they’ve given themselves an unbelievable lead to win the league. If we beat them, we’re tied for first place and we’re right there competing for a league championship again.”

But if nothing else, Wednesday night’s contest figures to be a game that showcases plenty of elite talent on both sides. Both coaches have recruited lights out over the years.

So buckle up for a good one.

“They’ve done a good job,” Oats said. “I think someone told me in the last six years since 2017 there’s been nine first-round picks in the Alabama-Auburn games, so you look at the talent, they’ve had (Isaac) Okoro, Jabari Smith, they’ve had lottery picks. We’ve had Kira (Lewis), (Josh) Primo, Brandon Miller, multiple lottery picks, multiple first-round picks from both groups. There’s been a lot of talent.

“There’s been a lot of winning between the two programs. There hasn’t been a lot of blowouts, they’re all pretty close games. And the fans certainly get into it. Their environment over there is great, I’m sure our environment over here tomorrow will be great.”

The game is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. ET tipoff on ESPN.