In a meeting of No. 1 and No. 2 back in February, top-ranked Auburn rolled to a 94-85 win over Alabama in Tuscaloosa. Now, with Auburn having locked up the SEC regular season title with last-second Alabama’s loss to Tennessee on Saturday, Crimson Tide point guard Mark Sears has his sights set on the rematch between the Tigers and the Tide this upcoming Saturday at Auburn.
“We get to see Auburn, we’ve got Florida and can’t overlook them, but we still have Auburn for their Senior Night…” Mark Sears when asked if the video of Auburn’s team celebrating Tennessee’s win, which clinched the Tigers the SEC outright, lights a fire under this Alabama team… pic.twitter.com/EBH6rTJcia
— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) March 4, 2025
Before that matchup, Alabama hosts No. 5 Florida on Wednesday night, and while Sears claims to not be overlooking that top-10 matchup with SEC and NCAA Tournament implications, it’s clear that at least some of his focus is on the upcoming in-state rivalry. Sears was held to just 18 points in the first meeting on 4/17 from the field with just three assists and two turnovers. It was one of his worst performances of the season, so it’s understandable why he wants a do-over, but his comments might light a fire under National Player of the Year candidate Johni Broome and the rest of the Tigers.
It will be Senior Day against Alabama for Broome, Denver Jones, Chad Baker-Mazara, Miles Kelly, Chaney Johnson, and Dylan Cardwell. That’s a huge chunk of Bruce Pearl’s rotation and coming off a surprising 83-72 loss to Texas A&M in College Station on Tuesday night, that group will be motivated to get a win in their final collegiate home game. Sears’ comments will only add to that and further inflame an always bitter rivalry.
Sears has his Senior Night on Wednesday against Florida, but before his career comes to an end, the undersized guard who carried the Crimson Tide to the Final Four last year is hoping to atone for all of this season’s defeats. Saturday may not be the last time that Auburn and Alabama match up this season, there could be another meeting in the SEC Tournament, and even another during March Madness. While Sears is hungry to right the wrongs of last month’s loss to the Tigers, Pearl’s team has spent all season building to eradicate the memory of last year’s first-round upset loss to Yale in the NCAA Tournament.
There is still a lot to prove in the best conference in college basketball, and not much time to left to prove it.