Alabama and Auburn are primed for the biggest game in their rivalry's history - ESPN

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The entire gym froze at the whistle.

«Listen!» screamed Alabama head coach Nate Oats, as he catapulted onto the court from the sideline, refusing to take his foot off the gas at a recent practice. «There should not be any 3-pointers against this defense! None!»

Three hours southeast, Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl was in a similar state.

«This doesn't work!» he yelled at his players during a mid-February session, his hands thrown up in the air. «This doesn't work unless our big men step up! Do it again!»

Every time the Tigers and the Crimson Tide meet in a rivalry that dates back to 1893, there are fireworks. Throughout its history, the pinnacle of this in-state conflict has taken place on the football field, in the Iron Bowl. But Saturday's marquee matchup between No. 1 Auburn and No. 2 Alabama in Tuscaloosa (4 p.m. ET, ESPN) will place basketball center stage in the first 1 vs. 2 meeting in the history of the SEC — not just these two teams.

The stakes have elevated the contest to another threshold.

«That's definitely a big game,» said Grant Nelson, the Alabama forward who is averaging 12.7 points per game. «That's what everyone talks about. That's what all of my friends want to come out and watch because they want to catch that game.»

Saturday's matchup will be the first between the top two teams in college basketball since Gonzaga and UCLA met in Las Vegas during the 2021-22 season, and the first in-conference meeting involving the No. 1 and No. 2 teams since Kansas and Oklahoma battled in a triple-overtime affair in 2016, according to ESPN Research.

The rise of these two teams also represents a shifting hierarchy in college basketball that is challenging the traditional definition of a «blue blood.»