Alabama Basketball Could Host No. 1 vs. No. 2 Iron Bowl of Basketball Against Auburn Tigers

The No. 3 Alabama Crimson Tide basketball program went on the road and defeated Arkansas Razorbacks 85-81 on Saturday night. Alabama’s victory sets up a potentially historic matchup between the Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers in Coleman Coliseum next weekend as ESPN’s College GameDay has already announced its intentions to be in Tuscaloosa.

The Crimson Tide (20-3, 9-1 SEC) won on Saturday, while No. 1 Auburn Tigers lost at home to No. 6 Florida 90-81, and No. 2 Duke lost to Clemson 77-71, meaning a shakeup at the top is coming in the AP Top 25 Poll.

No. 4 Tennessee, which defeated the Gators on Feb, 1, beat Missouri and Oklahoma this week, and No. 5 Houston scored wins against Oklahoma State and at Colorado, so barring a surprise the Southeastern Conference will still have three of the top four teams, and four of the top six.

Alabama assumes to move to No. 1 for the fourth time in program history. If the Tigers fall just a single spot to No. 2, the upcoming Saturday matchup between the bitter rivals will mark the 44th time since the inception of the AP Poll in 1949.

It’ll would be an SEC first, through, and just the third instrastate 1 vs. 2 showdown (Duke vs. North Carolina, 1994 and 1998; Tennessee vs. Memphis in 2008).

The No. 1 team is currently 23-20 all-time but is 12-13 in matchups in the regular season.

Regular Season Matchups

• Dec. 17, 1951: No. 2 Kentucky 81, No. 1 St. John’s 40
• Dec. 21, 1954: No. 1 Kentucky 70, No. 2 Utah 65
• Dec. 14, 1964: No. 2 Michigan 87, No. 1 Wichita State 85
• Jan. 20, 1968: No. 2 Houston 71, No. 1 UCLA 69
• Dec. 15, 1973: No. 1 UCLA 84, No. 2 North Carolina State 66
• Jan. 19, 1974: No. 2 Notre Dame 71, No. 1 UCLA 70
• Jan. 26, 1974: No. 2 UCLA 94, No. 1 Notre Dame 75
• Nov. 29, 1975: No. 1 Indiana 84, No. 2 UCLA 64
• Dec. 26, 1981: No. 1 North Carolina 82, No. 2 Kentucky 69
• Jan. 9, 1982: No. 1 North Carolina 65, No. 2 Virginia 60
• Dec. 15, 1984: No. 1 Georgetown 77. No. 2 DePaul 57
• Feb. 2, 1985: No. 2 Georgetown 85, No. 1 St. John’s 69
• Feb. 4, 1986: No. 1 North Carolina 78, No. 2 Georgia Tech 77 (OT)
• Feb. 13, 1990: No. 2 Missouri 77, No. 1 Kansas 71
• Feb. 10, 1991: No. 1 UNLV 112, No. 2 Arkansas 105
• Feb. 3, 1994: No. 2 North Carolina 89, No. 1 Duke
• Feb. 5, 1998: No. 2 North Carolina 97, No. 1 Duke 73
• Dec. 10, 2005: No. 1 Duke 97, No. 2 Texas 66
• Feb. 25, 2007: No. 2 Ohio State 49, No. 1 Wisconsin 48
• Feb. 23, 2008: No. 2 Tennessee 66, No. 1 Memphis 62
• Nov. 12, 2013: No. 2 Michigan State 78, No. 1 Kentucky 74
• Jan. 4, 2016: No. 1 Kansas 109, No. 2 Oklahoma 106 (3OT)
• Nov. 14, 2017: No. 1 Duke 88, No. 2 Michigan State 81
• Nov. 5, 2019: No. 2 Kentucky 69, No. 1 Michigan State 62
• Nov. 23, 2021: No. 1 Gonzaga 83, No. 2 UCLA 63

Postseason Matchups

• March 26, 1949: No. 1 Kentucky 46, No. 2 Oklahoma A&M 36 (national championship)
• March 23, 1957: No. 1 North Carolina 54, No. 2 Kansas 53 (3OT) (national championship)
• March 18, 1960: No. 2 California 77, No. 1 Cincinnati 69 (Final Four)
• March 25, 1961: No. 2 Cincinnati 70, No. 1 Ohio State 65 (OT) (national championship)
• March 24, 1962: No. 2 Cincinnati 71, No. 1 Ohio State 59 (national championship)
• March 20, 1965: No. 2 UCLA 91, No. 1 Michigan 80 (national championship)
• March 18, 1966: No. 1 Kentucky 83, No. 2 Duke 79 (Final Four)
• March 22, 1968: No. 2 UCLA 101, No. 1 Houston 69 (Final Four)
• March 25, 1974: No. 1 North Carolina State, No. 2 UCLA, 80-77 (2OT) (Final Four)