Ahead of Saturday's matchup between No. 1 Auburn and No. 6 Tennessee in Neville Arena, Ryan Sylvia of VolReport, part of the Rivals Network, and I exchanged questions about the upcoming battle.

Here are five questions I asked Ryan about the massive showdown in the SEC.

1. It seems lately that Auburn and Tennessee have been fighting for SEC titles every season. Has this become one of the more underrated rivalries in the country?

I think it has. I'm sure most Auburn fans point to Alabama as the biggest hardwood rival while Vol fans point to Kentucky, but it feels like every time these teams meet, it has SEC and NCAA Tournament seeding implications on the line. It's been nothing short of great games, either. The Dalton Knecht takeover from last year is a fond memory for Tennessee fans looking back at one of the best seasons in the history of the program. When you add in the Bruce Pearl narrative, there's a lot to get excited about when these teams meet.

2. Who is the one player for the Volunteers who can absolutely go off and lead Tennessee to an upset win?

Chaz Lanier. He's coming off a bit of a rough stretch, but when he gets going, there may not be a better pure shooter in the country. He's naturally gotten a lot of comparisons to Dalton Knecht due to coming from a small school, playing similar positions and lighting it up from deep, but they're very different players. Lanier doesn't create his own shot as much, but his shooting percentage on catch and shoots is absurd. It feels like in the blink of an eye that he'll have made four shots from range and is all of a sudden at 12 points. Zakai Zeigler is the engine of the team on both ends, but Lanier is the one who can get ridiculously hot in a hurry.

3. What matchup can Tennessee put on the floor that might be a mismatch for the Tigers?

I'm not sure if anyone in the country has the pieces to get a true mismatch on Auburn. You'll give and trade some strengths for weaknesses but the Tigers are plenty capable of making any lineup pay. I think Tennessee is going to have to get a nice game out of Jahmai Mashack, though. For my money, he's the best defender in the country. He won't get thenational praise for it like Zakai Zeigler, but I'm yet to see someone get the best of Mashack consistently on that end. For Tennessee to stop the Auburn offense, Mashack is going to have to be a factor.

4. How has Rick Barnes built Tennessee into one of the best programs in college basketball over the past several years?

It's truly an impressive feat that Rick Barnes has been able to turn a program with little basketball history into such a perennial contender. The resources have always been there for Tennessee to be good on the men's side of the hardwood, but Bruce Pearl was the only other one in recent history to get things toward where they are now. I think you have to start with the personnel. It helped to get guys like Grant Williams in early alongside a solid cast to put up wins. From there, he's recruited well out of high school and identified under-the-radar guys like Zakai Zeigler. He's sneakily been reallyeffective in the portal, too. With his defensive-first mentality and the right players in the system, it's resulted in a lot of wins.

5. What do you think will be the biggest factor for both teams to walk out of Neville Arena with a victory?

Tennessee needs to hit shots early. You know the defense will travel, but the Vols have struggled to see shots fall early in games recently. If they don't and fall into a hole, it could look like the blowout loss at Florida all over again. To me, it'sthe exact opposite for Auburn. If the Tigers hit some early shots and get some runs, the environment and early deficit could be too much for Tennessee to recover from. This could be a game we figure out who has the upper hand in, or if it'll be another wire-to-wire blood bath, earlier than later.