Alabama basketball prepares for raucous crowd at Neville Arena
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — There's nothing like a rivalry game. Better yet, there's nothing like a rivalry game on the road.
On Saturday, Alabama will experience part one of a home-and-home series with its bitter in-state rival Auburn which begins at Neville Arena, a place Nate Oats has only won at once during his four-year tenure. The lone win for Oats and Alabama at Auburn was in 2021 when a mere 1,800 fans were in attendance because of COVID-19 restrictions.
During his Friday press conference Alabama head coach Nate Oats said the team is already prepared for another hostile environment.
"It's loud, they have a great crowd and it's a nice arena for college basketball," Oats said. "They put the students right on top of the floor which is great for college basketball and I like playing in that arena. It makes it tough on your guys, it's too loud to call out sets and all of that stuff. I mean you're going to have a hard time hearing anything in there."
To prepare the players for what they're going to experience on Saturday, Oats said the team used crowd noise when it went live at practice. While Oats said the crowd noise won't really replicate what the players are going to experience Saturday, this also isn't Alabama's first raucous road test.
The Crimson Tide went to a sold-out Fertitta Arena in Houston where it defeated the then-No. 1 ranked Cougars, 71-65. Then it also went to Missouri, Arkansas and Vanderbilt, picking up victories at each stop and winning by 10 points or more.
Alabama's gauntlet of a non-conference schedule where it had to travel to places such as Houston ranks it seventh in the country according to KenPom's strength of schedule rating. While Brandon Miller and Rylan Griffen cited that the crowd noise serves as an advantage for Auburn, the Crimson Tide's schedule and experience playing in tough environments help lessen that edge.
"I feel like that's one of the reasons why we're here," Miller said. "To play against hard teams like this. The tough schedule makes everyone on the team better on and off the court. It just prepares us mentally and physically for games like this on the road."
Added Griffen: "It's a big game. But we've been playing in hostile environments the whole season. They have too. They've had a real tough conference schedule so far. So yeah, I think we're prepared to go in there and play."
Due to the rivalry, ESPN's College GameDay will also be in attendance for Saturday's matinee. While the nation will focus on the state of Alabama, it doesn't phase the freshman duo who are focused on getting another massive road win.
"I don't really care at the end of the day," Griffen said when asked if he liked playing on the road. "You gotta play the game and it's played on the court, not in the stands. It doesn't really matter home or away, the only difference is that you're not sleeping in your own bed the night before. On the court, it's the same court here as it is there."