The unacceptable truth about the current state of the Auburn vs Alabama rivalry
I am not the type of writer or podcaster that jumps up and down on the heads of the young men and women who are out there putting sweat equity into any athletics program. I never really have. I am not about to now. However, today it came to my attention about the past year of sports wins and losses between our Auburn Tigers and that other school that we are rivals with.
In the 2022-23 sports season, Auburn lost to Alabama in:
Baseball (x’s 2)
Football
Gymnastics
Men’s Basketball (x’s 2)
Men’s Tennis
Men’s wheelchair basketball (x’s 5)
Soccer
Track and Field
Women’s Basketball (x’s 2)
Women’s Swim and Dive
I know there are one or two I missed as well. Let's just stop for a second and thank Auburn Women’s Tennis and Men’s Swimming. Our equestrian team is really good as well. Alabama just ended theirs in 2020. Auburn Softball catches them in a series at the end of April, so there is hope there. There is a word for this trend: Unacceptable.
This news has hit the Auburn fanbase hard. One gander at the Auburn Twitter-verse and you quickly realize that blue-blooded fans are fed up with this past year of inequality between the programs.
Not to minimize other sports, but it would be safe to assume that Football is king, followed closely by basketball and baseball. Long gone are the days when Tuberville owned Alabama in football for six straight seasons and five Alabama coaches. We haven’t beaten the Bammers in the Iron Bowl since 2019. Before that, it was in 2017 and 2013. There is a word for that too, unacceptable.
I won’t get into the whole “ we had fewer players indicted” joke. We can’t even take comfort in the fact that there are a whole lot of large, hairy Alabama fans in their basements right now soldering little national championship trophies, claiming the next ten years and 712 of the previous ones, some of which I am guessing are males. Yes, they are hanging banners for everything. I get it.
Bad news: They are right.
I do not place the blame for the current state of this rivalry on any of the student-athletes that have competed. I put it squarely where it belongs; the various coaching staffs and the department heads near and around the athletic department.
Somewhere, somehow, Auburn has lost its way. It is time to find it.
With the 2022-23 season of athletic competitions between these two teams drawing to a close, I am looking at coaches for 2023-24. Head ball coach Hugh Freeze and his staff. Bball Master Bruce Pearl and his assistants. Butch Thompson and his staff. Set the example. The fans are ready. They are barnin’. They are waiting for something to scream about in the dark nights in Jordan-Hare, to remind opponents why they don’t want to play here. They are ready to load Neville Arena to the rafters and make the Jungle shake. They are ready to stuff into Plainsman Park and mercilessly scream and clap for every little play.
Give us that back.
Read the Creed. Be the Creed.
Make every talking point advantageous for the perception of Auburn.
Don’t be unacceptable.
PORTAL: Auburn football has seen three players officially depart this week, with Tar'Varish Dawson announcing intentions to transfer early Saturday morning.
Dawson joins the following Auburn Tigers that have announced that they will be in the transfer portal.
Defensive lineman Jeffrey M'ba
Linebacker Kameron Brown
Linebacker Desmond Tisdol
The Auburn Tigers have pulled in an impressive haul thus far during Hugh Freeze's first season on the Plains, currently sitting at No. 3 nationally in 247Sports' transfer portal class rankings.
You can check out our transfer portal tracker here. Stay up to date on all of the Tigers' commitments, departures, and prospects for key positions at auburndaily.com.
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