It’s week 12 of college basketball, and for the first time in program history, the Tigers are on top. Auburn basketball is the #1 team in the nation after beating #12 Kentucky in Auburn Arena over the weekend, and Auburn football players are loving it.
Bruce Pearl’s squad has certainly had to earn their spot at the top despite having only one loss and absolutely running through conference play. Last week, Auburn basketball just missed out on the #1 spot to the Gonzaga Bulldogs, but the two wins from this past week were enough to jump to #1.
During the Kentucky game, members of the Auburn Jungle were visited by several Auburn football players, and even head coach Bryan Harsin made an appearance in the student section. Just as the basketball team was present in Jordan-Hare to support the football team, guys like Texas A&M transfer Zach Calzada, Derick Hall, and Jaylin Simpson showed out in Auburn Arena.
Auburn football stars past and present came together on social media to celebrate the Tigers’ first #1 ranking in program history:
If your college basketball team is #1 in the country i hope you have a fantastic week
— Kerryon Johnson (@CoachKerryon) January 24, 2022
NOBODY WANT TO GIVE @AuburnMBB THEIR RESPECT STOP CRYING AND WHINING!! WE #1 RIGHT NOW AND YOUR NOT! LIVE WITH IT🦅#WarEagle
— Derick Hall II (@derick_hall9) January 24, 2022
With Auburn basketball sitting at the top of the AP Poll, the world is beginning to understand that Auburn is not just a football school, but an everything school. Per Auburn Rivals, Bruce Pearl explains what it’s all about on the Plains:
"“It is historic, and it does matter. And it does mean something,” Pearl said after the Ole Miss game. “You know, that’ll be a proud moment for Auburn, period. Our university and our athletic department. Now, I understand that it doesn’t mean much right now, but it still makes a very strong statement.“We want to have the number one business school. We want to have the number one engineering school. We want to have the number one football team and gymnastics team. It’s just, we’re an everything school.”"
Auburn basketball will go on the road to face Missouri on Tuesday night and will return to Auburn Arena to host Oklahoma next weekend as part of the SEC/Big-12 Challenge.