Auburn and Alabama certainly have their rivalry as both teams reside in the same state and are truly the only two sports teams the state of Alabama has to showcase. However, the Auburn Tigers would tell you that the Crimson Tide isn't their only rival.
On Saturday, Auburn welcomes the Georgia Bulldogs to town, and the university is about 30 miles west of the Alabama/Georgia border, the Tigers saw this game as a big rivalry. The Tigers were able to walk away with an 82-70 win over the Bulldogs, but this was more than just another SEC conference win.
"Beating Georgia matters to Auburn, it matters to me," head coach Bruce Pearl said in his post-game press conference.
While on the football field, Georgia has dominated in the last 12 meetings, Auburn has gotten its revenge on the basketball court. The Tigers have won 13 out of their last 16 meetings against Georgia on the hardwood, and that is something every Auburn fan is happy to see.
Even though the Bulldogs have struggled this season, with only a 4-10 record in SEC play, in a rivalry game, anything can happen. Georgia came to Auburn ready to put up a fight, and while the final score doesn't necessarily show they did, Pearl will be the first to admit that Georgia brought their A-game.
"The league is so good and so competitive, and to see Georgia come in here and play so hard, they had a great, great, great, game plan," Pearl said.
Pearl went on to talk about the different defenses Georgia brought to the game that certainly threw off his Tigers and forced them to make adjustments that he felt they did well. Auburn only had a five-point lead heading into halftime against Georgia, and with about five minutes left in the game, Georgia still trailed by that same amount.
Beating teams that they should is sometimes bigger than the team that is circled on a schedule as a tough game because it is easy to get complacent against the lower tier teams, and that is when losses sometimes rear their ugly head. The Tigers came out ready for the Bulldogs and took care of business, but this win was just as big as any other rivalry win, and Bruce Pearl made sure to let everyone know that.