No. 1 Auburn Tigers vs. No. 6 Tennessee Vols Preview, How to Watch

#1/1 Auburn Tigers (17-1, 5-0 SEC) vs. #6/7 Tennessee Volunteers (17-2, 4-2 SEC)
January 25, 2025 at 7:30 p.m. (CT)
Neville Arena (9,121) | Auburn, Ala.
Television: ESPN

Pitfalls and trap games can ruin a team's season. Not in the sense of wrecking it, but derailing the momentum teams rely upon. Saturday's game against the No. 6 Tennessee Volunteers does not enter the trap category. In fact, it rises to the level of a proving ground, testing Auburn's mettle and how they respond to a team that possesses as much or even more talent.

Heading into the backstretch of the season, Auburn, as the No. 1 team in the nation, needs to remain on high alert. The Volunteers surprise no one , as the college basketball world stays aware of what the University of Tennessee can do on the court.

Smothering

The Vols hold opponents to 36.3% shooting, which ranks second overall in all of Division I basketball. Tennessee wants to attack the passing lanes, cutting off angles and forcing wild shots. Now, this extends from hoop to beyond the arc where UT opponents connect on only 25.5% of their threes, tops in the nation.

Defense makes the team go. Auburn must take advantage of their size advantage, even if Johni Broome misses another game (he's officially doubtful for Saturday's contest). Tennessee loves a quick guard-based defense that takes advantage of lazy passes. Additionally, going to the rim also presents its share of challenges, as the Vols send back 5.2 shots per game, good for sixth in the conference.

Auburn leads the nation with 7.1 blocks per game.

The Conductor

Standing a robust 5-foot-9, senior point guard Zakai Zeigler moves the Tennessee offense with focus, timing, and efficiency. He plays like an athlete six inches taller. For three years he's led the SEC in assists, as he does right now with 7.6 helpers.

Coach Barnes has high praise for Senior G Zakai Zeigler after a second half comeback against a ranked #SEC opponent, primarily led by Z in all phases of the game. “He’s truly one of the great Volunteers” - Coach Barnes on Zakai pic.twitter.com/7eqBxjkXiE
— Ellie (@Ellie_Mai_) January 16, 2025

With 617 career assists, the senior vaulted into the top-10 all time in the SEC. Zeigler's passes elicit the oohs and aahs with the crispness and timing. Like a quarterback, Zeigler throws teammates open, allowing them to gain separation to score. While not a prolific shooter, Zeigler's ability to drive and dish will help Tennessee.

Tennessee's offensive rating is 8th in the country (120.5) and their actions are great:

1. Zoom -> Floppy
2. Double -> Rescreen
3. Hawk -> Stampede Curl

Zakai Ziegler is a master at coming off pins and setting his guys up at the rim. pic.twitter.com/XsmDHYFNVD
— Thibaut Tagnon (@TagnonThibaut) December 7, 2024

Bottom Line

Chaz Lanier may lead the team in scoring, but Zakai Zeigler makes the Tennessee Volunteers go. Dealing with a floor general that sees the floor with vision and the ability to process what a defense does, makes Tennessee dangerous.

Auburn needs to overcome the perimeter defense and remember their ability to use their height advantage to dictate how the course of the game goes. As a No. 1 team, the Auburn Tigers need to win this game and silence all doubts pertaining to whether they can beat an elite opponent without Johni Broome.

» Top-ranked Auburn (17-1, 5-0 SEC) welcomes No. 6-ranked Tennessee (17-2, 4-2 SEC) to Neville Arena for a Top 10 showdown on Saturday night on The Plains. From here-on-out, the Tigers will now play 13-straight games, playing twice a week, after they were one of four teams including Kentucky, LSU and Oklahoma, to receive the earliest mid-week byes of the season in the SEC.

» In its last outing, a 66-63 road victory at No. 23 Georgia, Auburn matched the 2018-19 Tigers’ school record with their sixth win over a ranked opponent this season.

» This season is the fourth time in the last eight seasons Auburn is the last remaining undefeated team in SEC play. The Tigers are also one of three league schools who remain unbeaten at home (8-0) this season next to Missouri (14-0) and Tennessee (11-0).

» Auburn is currently on an SEC best 10-game winning streak, which is fifth-longest in the country behind Duke (12), Michigan State (11), Houston (11) and Cleveland State (11). The Tigers own the second-longest conference win streak (11-straight wins in SEC play) behind McNeese State (19-straight wins in Southland Conference play).

» The game matches the two teams that have been ranked No. 1 in the country for the past seven weeks – Auburn the last two and Tennessee the previous five. It also features the two winningest programs in the SEC over the last eight seasons as Auburn leads with a .739 winning percentage and Tennessee second (73.4%).

» This is the second home Top 10 matchup in program history and the first since No. 9 Auburn beat No. 8 Mississippi State, 97-66, on Jan. 3, 1959.

» The Tigers are 7-1 in its last eight Top 25 matchups and 8-1 in its last nine ranked matchups at home.

» Auburn is the only basketball program that has hosted ESPN’s College GameDay each of the past five seasons (excluding the 2020-21 season when the show did not travel due to pandemic).

» Auburn has sold out the last 63-straight home games at Neville Arena (9,121) and are 53-3 overall in the venue over the last four seasons: 2021-22 (16-0), 2022-23 (14-2), 2023-24 (15-1) and 2024-25 (8-0). The only schools to come into Neville Arena and claim a win during that stretch: Alabama and Texas A&M in 2022-23 as well as Kentucky in 2023-24.

A LOOK AT THE VOLS

» Fifth-year senior guard Chaz Lanier, who is in his first season with Tennessee after transferring from North Florida, leads the Volunteers and is second in the SEC averaging 18.4 points per game. He also leads the league averaging 3.63 three-pointers per game and boasts the second-best shooting percentage from 3-point range (42.6%).

» Senior guard Zakai Zeigler is second on the team averaging 12.2 points per game and is fifth nationally dishing out 7.6 assists per game. He is Tennessee’s all-time career leader with 221 steals in his 120 career games played with the Vols.

» Tennessee has one of the best defenses in the country as the Volunteers are second in field-goal percentage defense (36.3), third in scoring defense (58.6) and first in 3-point percentage defense (25.9). The Vols have allowed 70+ points only four times this season.

SERIES NOTES

» Tennessee holds an 81-45 advantage in the all-time series with Auburn. However, the Tigers have won seven of the last 10 games against the Volunteers, while UT has won three of the last four including a 92-84 victory in Knoxville last season.

» Nine of the last 11 games in the series, including the last five, have been decided by 10 points or less. The Volunteers have won the last three meetings in Knoxville after the Tigers won the previous two contests at Tennessee.

» The Tigers have won five of six meetings between the two teams when the game is played in Auburn including the last four. AU leads 31-24 in games played on The Plains including a 79-70 victory in the regular-season home finale at Neville Arena in 2023 – the last time both schools played each other in Auburn.

AUTLIVE CANCER

» The Bruce Pearl Family Foundation is once again continuing the fight against cancer with the 10th year of AUTLIVE, Auburn Basketball’s fight against cancer. The best way to beat cancer is to detect it early and be able to fight it on your home court.

» Saturday’s game is the AUTLIVE Cancer Game. You can support the cause by purchasing a T-shirt or donating online at www.AUTLIVE.com

» AUTLIVE raises the awareness of cancer prevention and detection, while T-shirt sales and donations raise money to benefit cancer patients at these locations: Russell Medical Foundation, Smile-A-Mile, Coosa Valley Medical Center, Children’s of Alabama, East Alabama Medical Center, Joy to Life, aTeam Ministries, Cancer Wellness Foundation, Russel Hill, Southeast Health Foundation, Alabama Oncology Foundation and Mitchell Cancer Center.

» Pearl and his coaching staff initiated the OUTLIVE program at Tennessee in 2009, in recognition of former Vol Chris Lofton, who beat testicular cancer through early diagnosis and local treatment. He went on to play the entire 2007-08 season, while battling the disease.

» The Mike Slive Foundation will also be on site offering Blood PSA Screenings outside of the Hall of Honor on the concourse level of Neville Arena.

COACHING SIDEBARS

» Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl is the only coach in SEC history (men’s basketball or football) to lead two programs to a No. 1 national ranking in the AP Poll. (Rick Barnes did so with Tennessee and Texas, but Texas was not a member of the SEC at the time).

» Pearl currently ranks No. 11 among active NCAA Division I head coaches with 679 career wins (with the retirement of Miami head coach Jim Larranaga), while Barnes is No. 2 (823).

» Coach Pearl is 8-7 against Tennessee with all 15 games coming during his 11 seasons at Auburn. He is 5-1 at home, 2-5 on the road and 1-1 in the SEC Tournament against the Volunteers including an 84-64 triumph to claim the 2019 tournament title. Pearl was 5-2 at Tennessee in his six-year career coaching against Auburn.

» Pearl, who won six National Coach of the Year awards at Tennessee, led the Vols to an average of 24.2 wins per season and six-straight NCAA Tournament appearances. He also guided UT to the 2008 SEC Championship with a 31-5 record.

» Coach Pearl is 10-7 coaching against Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes including an 8-6 mark at Auburn against Tennessee under Barnes. Pearl was 2-1 against Texas under Barnes during his six seasons at Tennessee.

» Auburn Associate Head Coach Steven Pearl was a four-year letterman for Tennessee from 2007-11. Pearl was a member of UT’s 2008 SEC Championship team that finished 31-5 overall, 14-2 in the SEC, reached the Sweet 16 and was ranked No. 5 nationally.

» The younger Pearl was a three-time SEC Academic Honor Roll member and graduated from Tennessee with a degree in marketing and international business in 2010. He earned his first career coaching victory serving as active head coach for Auburn against North Alabama during the 2021-22 season.

THE BEST TEAM IN THE COUNTRY

» For the first time in program history, Auburn was the unanimous No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll on Monday. The Tigers received all 62 first-place votes in this week’s AP Poll. They received 30 of the 31 first-place votes in this week’s Coaches Poll.

» Auburn was previously ranked No. 1 for three-straight weeks during the 2021-22 season. This is the fifth week for the program to be ranked No. 1.

» The Tigers lead the country in blocks per game (7.1) and winning percentage (94.4%). The only team in the country with one loss on the season and tied with Drake, Florida, Tennessee, Utah State, Saint Mary’s, St. John’s, Bradley and UC Irvine with 17 overall wins – the most in D-I.

QUAD 1 LEADERS

» Auburn’s nation-leading 10 Quad 1 wins so far this season tied the SEC record held by Alabama, which had 10 of its 13 overall Quad 1 wins during the regular season in 2022-23.

» The Tigers’ 10 Quad 1 wins are two more than any other team in the country. Oregon is second with eight Quad 1 wins, while Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas A&M are tied for third with six.

» In its Quad 1 games, Auburn has a +11.7 scoring margin. The Tigers are 1-0 in Quad 2, 2-0 in Quad 3 and 4-0 in Quad 4.

UNDEFEATED IN THE SEC

» In a year when the SEC is the unfathomably the best league in the country, Auburn is an undefeated 5-0 in league play for the sixth time in program history including the third time in the last four seasons.

» The Tigers previously started SEC play 10-0 in 2021-22 and 5-0 in 2023-24 under Bruce Pearl. It marks the fourth time in the last eight seasons Auburn has been the last remaining unbeaten team in SEC play.

TIGERS’ ALL-TIME ESPN COLLEGE GAMEDAY APPEARANCES

» Auburn is the only basketball program that has hosted ESPN’s College GameDay the last five seasons (2020, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025). The show did not travel during the 2020-21 season due to the COVID pandemic. The show, hosted by Rece Davis, along with analysts Jay Bilas, Jay Williams, Seth Greenberg and Andraya Carter, will air from 10-11 a.m. (CT) live from Neville Arena.

» The Tigers are 2-2 in their previous four appearances when College GameDay has been in town. This is the first road show of the season for the GameDay crew.

TOP 10 SHOWDOWNS

» The matchup between No. 1 Auburn and No. 6 Tennessee is the highest-ranked matchup in program history.

» Auburn is 2-6 all-time in Top 10 matchups. Saturday’s game is the second home Top 10 showdown in program history and the first to be played in Neville Arena.

» The Tigers are looking to beat ranked opponents in three-straight games for the second time in program history and the first time in regular-season play (beat No. 15 Mississippi State at home and No. 23 Georgia on the road).

» The only other time Auburn has beaten ranked opponents in three-straight games came during the 2019 NCAA Tournament when the Tigers knocked off 17th-ranked Kansas, 89-75, No. 3 North Carolina, 97-80, and seventh-ranked Kentucky, 77-71, in overtime.

PLAYER TO WATCH: TAHAAD PETTIFORD

» Undoubtably one of the top freshmen in the country, rookie guard and reigning SEC Freshman of the Week Tahaad Pettiford has gone en fuego when it comes to play the nation’s best.

» The Jersey City native and former five-star recruit scored a career-and game-high 24 points on 7-of-13 field goals, 5-of-7 from long range and 5-of-8 from the foul line to go with three rebounds, two assists and two steals in the win at UGA as well as 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting with three assists and career-best four steals against Mississippi State.

» He has scored in double figures in 11 of his first 18 career games including seven of Auburn’s games against ranked opponents and all five SEC games. The 20-point outburst at UGA marked his third 20-point game as he is shooting 12-of-25 from deep in SEC play.

» Pettiford is currently tied for 10th all-time among Auburn freshmen with three 20-point games.