College GameDay coming to Auburn for showdown against Alabama
Official release via Auburn Athletics
For the third time in program history, ESPN’s College GameDay is coming to The Plains on Saturday, Feb. 11.
The one-hour show, hosted by Rece Davis, along with analysts Jay Bilas, LaPhonso Ellis and Seth Greenberg, will be aired live ahead of Auburn’s SEC rivalry showdown with Alabama at Neville Arena. Both teams are currently ranked in The Associated Press Top 25 Poll – No. 25 and No. 4 respectively.
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Tipoff between the Tigers and Crimson Tide is set for 1 p.m. (CT) / 2 p.m. (ET) on ESPN. College GameDay will air before the game from 10-11 a.m. (CT) / 11 a.m.-Noon (ET).
Auburn and Duke are the only two basketball schools to host College GameDay the last three years in 2020, 2022 and 2023. The show did not air during the 2020-21 COVID season.
The Tigers are 2-0 in their previous College GameDay campus visits which include victories over then No. 13-ranked Kentucky (W, 75-66) on Feb. 1, 2020, and Texas A&M (W, 75-58) on Feb. 12, 2022, as the No. 1 team in the land.
Auburn is tied for ninth all-time with UConn, Arizona, Memphis, Notre Dame and Baylor, as a College GameDay host school (3) in basketball.
Please Note: All gates at Neville Arena will open at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 11. A game ticket is required to enter the venue for College GameDay.
Significance of Auburn, Alabama showdown
Commentary from Auburn Live
Alabama leads the SEC and should still be atop the standings when they arrive in Auburn next Saturday. Many pundits consider Alabama a legitimate contender to win the national championship. The Crimson Tide’s only recent win inside Neville Arena was the Covid season with limited fan seating, which was also then freshman Sharife Cooper’s first game of his one and only season at Auburn.
Since Bruce Pearl and Auburn’s first SEC regular season title in the 2017-18 season, that’s Alabama’s only win at Auburn. The Tide hasn’t won with a full capacity Neville during the Tigers’ current six-year run as one of the SEC’s best programs. Auburn holds a 4-1 record during that time with three of those wins by 19, 21 and 19 points.
The last time Alabama won inside Neville Arena at full capacity was in 2015.
Auburn is currently tied for second place in the SEC, but faces road games at Tennessee and at Texas A&M in their next two games leading into the Alabama game. The Tigers are looking for marquee wins on their NCAA Tournament resume and the home game against Alabama could provide the best opportunity to attain that yet this season.
