For the fifth consecutive season, ESPN’s CollegeGameday has made the trip to Auburn, Ala. The Tigers are the only program who have received a visit from the Gameday crew in each of the last five seasons.
“It’s awesome, I mean this is truly one of the great environments in basketball,” Jay Bilas said. “For us to have the opportunity to come back, especially year after year, where you’re coming back to a national title contending program… this is the game you want to see.”
No. 1 Auburn will take on No. 6 Tennessee. The matchup beat out a top 12 contest between No. 7 Houston and No. 12 Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse in their first season as Big 12 opponents for the right to host the flagship television program.
Bilas explained what makes the environment in Neville Arena stand out among other top college basketball venues.
“It’s not just loud, it’s consistently loud,” Bilas said. “It’s packed all the time for the games that we’re fortunate enough to be able to attend. You don’t have a lot of standing-room-only games, and this is a standing-room-only game. People are paying a big price to stand there and watch the game. You don’t have many places like that.”
The environment at Neville Arena starts with the student section, known as “The Jungle.” ESPN’s Seth Greenberg believes the connection between the team and the students helps create the unforgiving environment road teams have to deal with when taking on Auburn.
“They’ve had a very likable program where the student body can connect with the people who play,” Greenberg said. “You can see the joy the players have and the connection they have to the students.”
Of the five times Auburn has hosted College GameDay, a different opponent has been in town for four of them. Kentucky is the only repeat matchup. The SEC has taken a significant step forward in recent years, making its case to be college basketball’s premier league.
“The SEC has invested in it,” Greenberg said. “They hired the right coaches and they’re giving them the resources and this is what you’ve seen. It is the best conference in college basketball.”
College GameDay will air from 10-11 a.m. CT. Auburn and Tennessee are set to tipoff at 7:30 p.m. CT.
