Saturday cannot come soon enough.

No. 2 Alabama basketball’s next game is at home against No. 1 Auburn, in perhaps the most anticipated Iron Bowl of Basketball in the history of the rivalry. This will be the 44th all-time meeting in the entire sport between teams ranked No. 1 and No. 2.

It’s only right that ESPN’s College GameDay is coming to Tuscaloosa for the second-ever time in front of a packed Coleman Coliseum on Saturday morning.

Both teams are 10-1 in SEC play, meaning the result of Saturday’s game will break the tie. The SEC has indisputably been the best conference in college basketball this season, but Alabama and Auburn have been immune despite having the toughest and third-toughest strength of schedules respectively in the country.

And like their No. 1 strength of schedule ranking, the Crimson Tide is also first in the nation in points per game with 90.5. However, Alabama is 333rd in points allowed per game with 78.5. Auburn is a bit more well-balanced as the Tigers are eighth in scoring offense (84.8 points per game) and 68th in scoring defense (67.7 points allowed).

If all of these numbers aren’t enough reason to watch this game, there is another storyline as Crimson Tide sophomore sixth-man Aden Holloway spent his freshman campaign at Auburn and is eyeing a revenge game. On Jan. 21 after a stellar outing against Vanderbilt, the Alabama guard said he had an “abnormal” experience at Auburn that was “completely downhill.”

This will be the first time this season that these two programs face off as Auburn will host the regular season finale on March 8. That may not be the last time they meet as the Iron Bowl of basketball could occur not only in the SEC Tournament, but potentially the NCAA Tournament as well.

Who: No. 1 Auburn (22-2, 10-1 SEC) at No. 2 Alabama (21-3, 10-1 SEC)

When: Saturday, Feb. 15 at 3 p.m. CT.

Where: Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, Ala.

Radio: Crimson Tide Sports Network (Play-By-Play: Chris Stewart, Color: Bryan Passink). The pregame show will begin one hour prior to tipoff.

TV: ESPN

Series vs. Auburn: The Crimson Tide leads 100-68 with the first matchup occurring on Feb. 28, 1924. Alabama is 60-20 all-time at home against Auburn and is 6-4 in the last 10 overall matchups. Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats is 4-1 at home against Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl since his arrival in Tuscaloosa.

Last meeting with Auburn: Then-No. 16 Alabama fell to the then-No. 12 Tigers 99-81 on the road on Feb. 7, 2024. Mark Sears scored 25 points and Grant Nelson (16 points), Rylan Griffen (14) and Aaron Estrada (10) also finished in double figures but it simply wasn’t enough. Auburn forwards Jaylin Williams (26 points) and Johni Broome (24) combined for 50 points and seven blocks, while guards Tre Donaldson (14 points) and Chad Baker-Mazara (13) also had solid outings. This was the second Iron Bowl of last season as Alabama took the first at home by a score of 79-75.

Last time out, Alabama: The Crimson Tide dominated Texas 103-80 on the road on Tuesday night. The win marked the seventh time Alabama has scored 100 points or more in a game this season. Led by a season-high 24-point performance from Jarin Stevenson, Alabama had its best three-point shooting night of the season with 17 made threes from seven different players. Mark Sears (18 points), Aden Holloway (18), Labaron Philon (15) and Mouhamed Dioubate (13) joined Stevenson as the leaders of the elite night from deep.

Last time out, Auburn: The Tigers cruised past Vanderbilt 80-68 with a big second half on the road on Tuesday. Denver Jones and Chaney Johnson scored a combined 41 points on an extremely efficient 16-for-20 from the field, including 6-for-8 from behind the arc. Johni Broome tallied 17 points to go along with team-highs in rebounds (7) and blocks (3).

Alabama Stat Leaders

Auburn Stat Leaders