Auburn and Florida playing for SEC Championship

Auburn is 40 minutes away from its fourth banner in the Bruce Pearl era.

Standing in their way? The Florida Gators, the one team that the Tigers had no answers against.

It's Todd Golden versus his mentor, Pearl, for an SEC Championship.

"I would be lying if I said I wouldn't prefer it to be someone else," Golden said. "But to meet them in the championship, it's going to just be an awesome game and a great opportunity for us. Neither side will be taking it easy on each other."

In their only matchup of the season, Florida jumped out a 9-0 lead and led by as much as 27 en route to an 81-65 win.

A key difference in that one? The game was in Gainesville, a place Auburn hasn't won in since 1996.

"We played fantastic at home all year," Golden said. "We had a bye that week and they were coming off -- I think they had beat Alabama by like 18 right before they played us. We had some things going our way in regards to the lead up to the game."

In the previous matchup, Florida's rotation consisted of eight different players, seven of which being at least 6-foot-4. The Gators' length and size flustered Auburn into shooting 3-of-17 from deep, its third-worst three-point shooting performance of the season.

The Tigers averaged 0.652 points per possession on all jump shots against Florida and 0.750 PPP on catch-and-shoot looks.

"I thought our guys did a great job executing against Auburn," Golden said. "We did a really good job defending them, limiting their opportunities on catch-and-shoot threes."

In addition to its defense, Florida's three guards, Zyon Pullin, Walter Clayton Jr. and Riley Kugel, combined for 61 points

"Offensively, we were just playing with great pace and great intent," Golden said. "Getting down to the middle of the floor, attacking the rim. We made a lot of shots that night. We played one of our best games."

Offense isn't going to come easy for the Tigers, but it also didn't against the Bulldogs. Pearl knows it'll be a similar type of game.

"Tomorrow is going to be another hard game to score," Pearl said. "We'll have to figure some things out. While we're trying to figure it out, we better get stops."

Overall, both teams are playing their best ball at the right time. The Gators have won three games in three nights after a questionable loss against Vanderbilt. Auburn has won five in a row with four of those being by double digits.

It'll be a showdown between two programs that are familiar with each other. Winner hangs a banner

"Both teams are playing really well at the right time, obviously," Golden said. "I think tomorrow will be a great game."