Auburn Vs Alabama Should Be Offensive Showcase

Auburn vs. Alabama, 4:00 ET

In the grand scheme of things, do the little numbers next to the teams mean all that much? I mean, certainly there is no question there is some meaning. However, like most years, there has been so much fluctuation of teams up and down the rankings that you can't even keep track of who is truly the cream of the crop. We are treated today to the two best teams in the country facing off as #1 Auburn heads on the road to take on #2 Alabama in a big SEC showdown. 

Auburn has spent the most time at #1 this season, at least as far as I can remember. It is for good reason, they are 22-2 right now and have been dominant in the SEC with a 10-1 conference record. I wrote about them last week and got the game wrong. They were hosting Florida and lost that game. It is really difficult to maintain a win streak and that might've been part of the issue. However, I also don't want to take away from Florida who has had a very good season themselves and put up a great performance to take down the Tigers. This was just the second loss of their season. The first, and only loss before the Florida game, was on the road against Duke. They did get back on track after that loss, winning 14 straight games. Now they have an opportunity to get back on track again as they beat Vanderbilt Tuesday on the road. Looking ahead, after this game they face two unranked opponents before taking on four ranked opponents (including Alabama again) to close out the regular season. The team is still dominated by Johni Broome who is pouring in points for the Tigers, but the past two games he has gotten good help from some guards who have led the team in scoring. Auburn actually has six players averaging double-digits this season which is impressive for a college team.

Jan 11, 2025; Columbia, South Carolina, USA; Auburn Tigers guard Denver Jones (2) and guard Miles Kelly (13) celebrate a three point basket by Kelly against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the second half at Colonial Life Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Blake-Imagn Images

Alabama is having a great season by their own right. Auburn is 21-3 and has been just as dominant in this extremely tough SEC. I've already gotten a win on them this week as I took them to go into Texas and take the Longhorns down. I figured that game was either going to be a blowout or going to be a loss for Alabama. It was a blowout. They have won seven straight games and now get to host Auburn. They have lost at home as Ole Miss took them down. They also have fallen on the road to Purdue and Oregon on a neutral court. They've lost all three games by a total of 21 points combined. This is easily the toughest stretch of the season for Alabama as they close out the season against nothing but ranked opponents. They are eventually going to drop a game or two to these opponents, but the question has to be if it happens today. Mark Sears is still their primary scorer, but the good news for them is that they have had five different leading scorers in the last five games. They also have six guys that are averaging roughly 10 points per game, but only three of them have played more than 20 games. 

Auburn is one of the best teams in the country, but playing on the road is a big challenge. Alabama absolutely needs to be ready for this game. While I think both defenses will try and lock into this one, I think the offenses are more likely to have the final say. I'm going to back the over here as there are so many scoring options it will be hard to stop everyone. I do lean toward Alabama winning, if that means anything. 

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