No. 7 Alabama at No. 1 Auburn Preview, How to Watch, News and Notes

No. 1 Auburn Tigers (27-3, 15-2 SEC) vs. No. 7 Alabama (23-7, 12-5 SEC)
March 8, 2025 at 1:30 p.m. (CT)
Neville Arena (9,121) | Auburn, Ala.

Television: ESPN
Play-By-Play: Karl Ravech
Color Analysts: Dick Vitale and Jimmy Dykes
Sideline Reporter: Molly McGrath

Radio: Auburn Sports Network
Play-By-Play: Andy Burcham
Color Analyst: Randall Dickey

» No. 1 Auburn (27-3, 15-2 SEC) concludes the regular season with No. 7 Alabama (23-7, 12-5) in town with state bragging rights on the line for the second time for the archrivals.

» Auburn is looking to sweep Alabama for the third time in the last seven seasons. Prior to 2019, the Tigers had not swept the Crimson Tide since 2009.

» Since 2018, Auburn and Alabama have combined to win five regular season and four SEC Tournament titles – Auburn (three regular season and two tournament) and Alabama (two regular season and two tournament). The Tigers and Crimson Tide are first and second in the league in combined SEC titles over that span.

» The Tigers will honor six seniors, Denver Jones, Chad Baker-Mazara, Chaney Johnson, Miles Kelly, Ja’Heim Hudson and JP Pegues, during Senior Day ceremonies held prior to tipoff along with three senior team managers Will Desmarais, Charlie Taylor and Tucker Montgomery.

» The game features two of the Top 5 active career scorers in NCAA Division I – Alabama’s Mark Sears (2,736 points, 1st) and Auburn’s Johni Broome (2,532 points, 5th).

» Auburn has secured the No. 1 seed in next week’s SEC Tournament in Nashville and will open play in the first quarterfinal game on March 14 against either the 8, 9 or 16 seed.

» This season is the first time in program history Auburn won at Alabama and Kentucky in the same season. The Tigers won at Kentucky for just the third time and the first time since 1988, snapping a 20-game losing streak.

» With a win, Auburn would set new program records with its 16th SEC win and 28th regular-season win. A 16th SEC victory would be tied for sixth-most in league history.

» Auburn is ranked No. 1 in this week’s Associated Press and ESPN Coaches polls. It marks the eighth-straight week the Tigers have been No. 1 in the AP Poll. Auburn is one of only two SEC teams to ever be ranked first for at least six-straight weeks in the AP Poll, joining Kentucky.

» The Tigers have been ranked for 31-consecutive weeks, which is the seventh-longest active streak in the country and is the second-longest streak in program history, one week behind the school record. Four of Auburn’s five longest ranked streaks in program history have come since January 2018. Saturday’s contest is the 54th-straight game the Tigers have played as a ranked team.

SCOUTING ALABAMA

» Alabama enters the regular-season finale at 23-7 overall and in third place in the latest league standings with a 12-5 mark.

» The Crimson Tide enters the game with the best scoring offense in the country averaging 91.1 points per game. They also lead the nation with 16 90-point games and have reached the 100-point mark eight times this season.

» Alabama is sixth in the NCAA NET rankings and tied for third in the country with nine Quad 1 wins.

» Graduate senior guard Mark Sears, the SEC’s second-leading scorer, is averaging 19.5 points per game. He is also second in the league averaging 4.97 assists per contest.

» The Crimson Tide ranks 13th nationally averaging 10.5 made 3-pointers per game and seventh knocking down 29.9 3-point attempts per contest.

» Alabama is third in the country shooting 59.8 percent from inside the arc.

INSIDE THE RIVALRY SERIES

» This is the 170th all-time meeting between Auburn and Alabama with the Crimson Tide holding a 102-67 series lead and the first time Auburn and Alabama have met as ranked teams twice during the same season.

» The Crimson Tide holds a 4-3 advantage in the series when both teams are ranked, but the Tigers have won three-straight ranked matchups in the series including No. 1 Auburn’s 94-85 victory over No. 2 Alabama at Coleman Coliseum on Feb. 15 – the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 game between SEC teams in conference history.

» Auburn is looking to sweep a home-and-home against Alabama for the third time in seven seasons. Prior to 2019, the Tigers had not swept the Crimson Tide since 2009.

» The two teams have split the last 16 games in the series. Seven of the last 10 have been decided by nine points or less.

» Auburn is 34-29 in games played in Auburn including an 8-5 advantage at Neville Arena. The Tigers are 8-3 in their last 11 home games against the Crimson Tide.

AUBURN-ALABAMA SERIES (Last 10 Games)

Feb. 12, 2020 H W, 95-91 (OT)
Jan. 9, 2021 H L, 90-94
Mar. 2, 2021 A L, 58-70
Jan. 11, 2022 A W, 81-77
Feb. 1, 2022 H W, 100-81
Feb. 11, 2023 H L, 69-77
Mar. 1, 2023 A L, 85-90 (OT)
Jan. 24, 2024 A L, 75-79
Feb. 7, 2024 H W, 99-81
Feb. 15, 2025 A W, 94-85

COACHING SIDEBARS

» Bruce Pearl is 14-14 in his head coaching career against Alabama and 5-6 in head-to-head matchups with Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats.

» Pearl is 9-11 coaching Auburn against Alabama. He is 7-5 at home (6-3 at Auburn), 5-8 at Alabama (3-7 coaching Auburn) and 2-1 at neutral-site games (0-1 coaching Auburn).

» Meanwhile, Nate Oats is 6-5 versus Auburn including 2-3 at Neville Arena and 4-2 in Tuscaloosa – all in his six seasons at Alabama.

PLAYER TO WATCH: TAHAAD PETTIFORD

» Rookie guard Tahaad Pettiford scored a team-high 19 points and made a career-best 6-of-10 three-pointers in his first career start at Texas A&M on Tuesday night.

» Pettiford is averaging 20.0 points over his last two games after scoring 21 points along with four assists and two rebounds leading Auburn to a historic road win at No. 17 Kentucky for the first time since 1988 clinching the program’s fifth regular-season SEC Championship on March 1 at Rupp Arena.

» He is averaging 15.6 points on 49.6 percent shooting overall and 44.6 percent shooting from long range in 13 games against ranked opponents.