AUBURN – The scope of what Auburn’s momentous winter sports season has inspired in fans might be best reflected in a text Bruce Pearl sent football coach Bryan Harsin last week.
“I was telling him, ‘Man, we’ve started traveling like Auburn football,’ ” said Pearl, the eighth-year men’s basketball coach.
How far-fetched would that have sounded a half-decade ago?
Or perhaps the buzz is best evidenced by a vision finally coming to fruition for gymnastics coach Jeff Graba. He has wanted to change Auburn’s home meet layout for the last couple of years, and now the time is right: a condensed court setup to make room for increased capacity.
“I’m excited about the closeness of the fans,” Graba said. “That’s already what separates Auburn Arena from all the other places in the country, is that the fans are right on top of you.”
That arena is preparing to host a unique weekend.
On Friday at 7 p.m.: The home opener for Graba’s most anticipated gymnastics team in 12 years, and the home debut of Olympic gold medalist Suni Lee. It’s a sellout of 9,121, putting that increased capacity to good use.
At noon Saturday: The most anticipated showdown of the season for Auburn basketball, which is seeking a 15th straight win that might elevate it to the first No. 1 ranking in program history. CBS will be here. It’s always a big deal when Kentucky visits. This “clash of titans,” as Pearl called it, transcends even the usual fanfare thanks to SEC title stakes.
It’s a remarkable collision of stars in the Loveliest Village on the Plains, and one can’t help but marvel at what this weekend symbolizes. It’s a reminder of the athletic talent at Auburn right now, made all the more absurd by the fact that we’re talking non-football sports — at this school, in this state, in this conference, all so externally reputed for football-obsessed culture.
The moment is even more bizarre because in the backdrop, Auburn football just had its first losing season since 2012. Up is down, left is right, etc.
Football is a conversation for another time, though. This is an opportunity for fans to appreciate what’s immediately in front of them. It’s difficult to grasp how incredible it is that an Olympic gold medalist and a potential No. 1 NBA draft pick are on campus at the same time, competing in landmark events in the same arena within 24 hours of each other.
Lee and Jabari Smith might be the greatest pair of athletes to pass through Auburn at the same time since Bo Jackson and Charles Barkley overlapped in the 1980s.
Smith probably could be averaging even more than his team-leading 15.8 points per game, but the roster around him is so complete that inflated scoring isn’t necessary.
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This will be his biggest stage yet. The other simile Pearl recently used to contextualize the passion surrounding his team was that “our fans are traveling like Kentucky fans now.” Auburn (17-1, 6-0 SEC) might get reminded of what that means Saturday when the No. 12 Wildcats (15-3, 5-1) visit. To them, Auburn’s ascent to the No. 2 ranking is an intrusion on their sport. Basketball is to that region what football is here.
But all opponents are knocked off their pedestal a bit when they enter the deafening hostility of Auburn Arena, and this might be the biggest game in the venue’s 12-year history. A win by the Tigers would help deliver a message: Pearl’s 2019 Final Four run was no fluke. Auburn basketball is here to stay.
So are the fans, apparently. There’s talk of students attending the gymnastics meet between No. 7 Auburn (2-0) and Iowa State (0-2), then waiting outside the arena overnight to hold their place in line for the Saturday student section for basketball.
“I think it’s super exciting,” senior gymnast Drew Watson said. “We’ve been on the road the past two weeks. … There’s just nothing like that many people in the arena cheering for you and helping us carry energy all the way through to the end of the meet.”
And the biggest difference is the end of the meet, when the home team gets to finish with floor routines. Last week at Arkansas, Watson received a “golf clap” instead of “the whole arena on their feet.” Auburn can give her, Lee and the rest of the Tigers the adrenaline they crave.
Then those same fans can find a spot outside, lay out blankets for the sleepover and wait for the basketball matinee.
Someone just bring them some coffee in the morning.
What a weekend to be at Auburn.
