History of Alabama–Auburn men's basketball rivalry in Timeline

The Alabama–Auburn men's basketball rivalry is a college basketball rivalry between the Auburn Tigers and the Alabama Crimson Tide. Despite both universities being renowned for football, the rivalry permeates other sports, including basketball. It is a deeply rooted and highly competitive series of games.

March 1, 1924: Alabama defeats Auburn in first ever meeting

On March 1, 1924, Alabama defeated Auburn 40–19 at the Southern Conference Tournament in Atlanta, marking their first-ever meeting in basketball.

1924: Series history since 1924

Since 1924, the Crimson Tide and the Tigers have played 172 times. As of this summary, Alabama leads the all-time series, with 103 wins to Auburn's 69. The game has been played in 10 cities.

January 5, 1955: Alabama defeats Auburn in first ranked matchup

On January 5, 1955, #16 Alabama defeated #20 Auburn 99–78 in their first-ever matchup where either team was ranked in college basketball.

February 27, 1960: Auburn clinches first SEC championship

On February 27, 1960, #13 Auburn clinched its first-ever SEC championship with a dramatic 63–61 victory over Alabama, secured by a last-second lay-up in overtime.

February 14, 1970: John Mengelt scores record 60 points

On February 14, 1970, Auburn's John Mengelt scored a school-record 60 points, making 23-of-44 field goals in the Tigers' 121–78 victory over Alabama.

January 22, 1972: Alabama stops Auburn streak

On January 22, 1972, Alabama stopped Auburn's series winning streak of 26 wins in 30 games with an 89–66 win.

March 8, 1975: Auburn upsets Alabama

On March 8, 1975, Auburn upset #7 Alabama 76–70, ending the Tide's 7-game winning streak in the series.

January 3, 1977: Alabama survives against Auburn

On January 3, 1977, #3 Alabama secured a 74–71 victory over #20 Auburn on the road.

January 5, 1983: Auburn upsets Alabama led by Charles Barkley

On January 5, 1983, Auburn, led by Charles Barkley, upset #5 Alabama 91–80.

March 9, 1985: Auburn wins SEC Tournament Championship

On March 9, 1985, Auburn made SEC history by winning four tournament games in four days, defeating Alabama in the SEC Tournament Championship Game 53–49 in overtime.

January 18, 1998: Auburn hands Alabama worst loss in school history

On January 18, 1998, Auburn defeated Alabama by a score of 94–40 at Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum, which was Alabama's worst loss in school history.

February 21, 2001: Auburn upsets Alabama with late jumper

On February 21, 2001, Reggie Sharp of Auburn made a 36-foot jumper with 4.4 seconds left in overtime to upset #15 Alabama 72–69.

January 18, 2003: Auburn upsets Alabama, extends home winning streak

On January 18, 2003, Auburn upset #9 Alabama 77–68, extending Auburn's home court winning streak to 7, which was a school series record at the time.

March 9, 2018: Alabama defeats Auburn in SEC Tournament

On March 9, 2018, #9 seed Alabama defeated #1 seed Auburn 81–63 in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament after outscoring Auburn 50–22 in the second half. This marked the first time a 9 seed had defeated a 1 seed in the SEC Tournament.

March 5, 2019: Auburn defeats Alabama after comeback

On March 5, 2019, Auburn overcame a 13-point deficit to defeat Alabama, securing their second regular-season sweep of Alabama in three seasons.

January 15, 2020: Alabama hands Auburn first loss of season

On January 15, 2020, Alabama handed #4 Auburn its first loss of the season with an 83–64 victory, marking the first time Alabama had beaten a top 4 team since 2004.

January 11, 2022: Auburn defeats Alabama

On January 11, 2022, #4 Auburn defeated #24 Alabama after coming back from down 13 points, contributing to Auburn's 19-game win streak that season.

February 1, 2022: Auburn sweeps Alabama

On February 1, 2022, #1 Auburn secured their 18th straight win as part of a 19-game win streak and swept Alabama in the regular season for the first time since 2019.

February 11, 2023: Alabama beats Auburn in College GameDay game

On February 11, 2023, #3 Alabama defeated Auburn 77–69 at Neville Arena in a game featured as the College GameDay game of the week, a first for the rivalry and for Alabama basketball.

February 15, 2025: Auburn defeats Alabama in top-2 AP poll matchup

On February 15, 2025, #1 Auburn defeated #2 Alabama 94-85 in a wire-to-wire victory, marking the first meeting between the top 2 teams in the AP poll in SEC history and only the sixth time in AP poll history that two teams from the same state met as the top 2 teams in the poll. Johni Broome led all scorers with 19 points.

March 8, 2025: Alabama defeats Auburn at Neville Arena

On March 8, 2025, #7 Alabama defeated #1 Auburn 93-91 in overtime at Neville Arena, with Mark Sears hitting a buzzer-beating jumper for the win. This marked the first time in the series history that the road team won both matchups.