Kentucky has not lost to Auburn in Rupp Arena since 1988

It’s been a longgg time since Auburn left Lexington with a win — over 37 years, to be exact.

Auburn’s last victory against Kentucky inside Rupp Arena came on Jan. 9, 1988. A three-pointer from John Caylor in the final seconds lifted the Tigers past a top-ranked UK team. It remains the program’s longest active road losing streak against a conference opponent, the next closest being a 29-year stretch without a win at Florida. In fact, Auburn has just two wins all-time (both under then-head coach Sonny Smith) against UK when the game is played at Rupp, the other win coming on Jan. 15, 1983 against a sixth-ranked Wildcats squad.

Overall, Kentucky is 31-2 against Auburn when the game is played in the Bluegrass State. In what will be his first-ever game against the Tigers, head coach Mark Pope will look to make it 32-2.

But Auburn will be expected to end its winning drought Saturday when Bruce Pearl brings the top-ranked Tigers to Rupp Arena for a showdown with No. 17 Kentucky. Both KenPom and BartTorvik project an 86-81 win for Auburn. Pearl has his best team yet with 15 Quad 1 wins and a National Player of the Year candidate in Johni Broome.

That being said, this is an unfamiliar situation for these two programs to be in with a head-to-head matchup on deck. Even away from Rupp, Kentucky has historically owned this series.

According to BigBlueHistory.net, Kentucky holds an all-time record of 98-23 against Auburn. There have been winning streaks of 13 games (1921-1957), 12 games (1968-1974), 13 games (1976-1982), 14 games (1990-1999), and 18 games (2001-2015). Things began to change once Bruce Pearl took over as head coach in 2014 though. Since his arrival on The Plains, Auburn is 6-10 against the ‘Cats and 4-4 over its last eight (including a win inn the 2019 Elite 8). However, Kentucky has won the previous two matchups, including a 32-point blowout in Lexington on Feb. 25, 2023.

Tipoff Saturday at Rupp is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. EST on ABC.