The rematch of the Iron Bowl of Basketball doesn’t have the steaks Nate Oats was looking for after the two teams first met Feb. 15. After beating Alabama 94-85, Auburn continued to dominate the SEC and wrapped up the regular season title last Saturday. Alabama comes into the rematch hungry for a win after struggling in one of the toughest seven-game stretches in the country, having lost three of its last five since facing the Tigers.

“I was kinda hoping this would be a battle for the regular season championship this year,” Oats told reporters Friday. “Didn’t turn out that way. Things don’t always go the way you want them to. But I thought when we had the 1 vs. 2 game earlier here with College GameDay here. It showed the level we got in both these programs.”

The rematch between Auburn and Alabama may not have as many implications as Oats was anticipating, but that doesn’t take any of the bitterness out of the game. Alabama sophomore guard Aden Holloway will return to Neville Arena for the first time since transferring from Auburn this offseason. A victory for the Tide would be its first road win over its in-state foe since 2023 and avenge the high-stakes matchup in Coleman Coliseum earlier this year.

It’s that kind of mentality that Oats is fostering in his players. Alabama’s postseason situation is fairly black and white. It’s very unlikely the Tide will drop off the No. 2-seed line in the NCAA Tournament, regardless of Saturday's result. It can jump as high as the No. 3 seed in the SEC tournament with a win or a Tennessee loss to South Carolina, but defeat will keep Alabama as the No. 4 seed when it heads to Nashville next week.

“Obviously a win here would help [our resumé] against the No. 1 team in the country, but I still think we’ve got a pretty good resumé looking at what our seeding will be for the NCAA Tournament,” Oats said. “So, there’s not a whole lot riding on this game other than some pride, which the Alabama-Auburn rivalry, there’s obviously gonna be some pride in this game. So, I'm sure both teams, maybe in different circumstances, would think about maybe resting their guys, but unless somebody's really banged up bad, our guys are planning on playing in this game.”

Instead of looking at Saturday’s matchup as a low-stakes effort, Oats wants his players to lay everything on the line to make a major statement after losing to then-No. 5 Tennessee and No. 5 Florida by a combined eight points. A win might not be enough to propel Alabama to a No. 1 seed on its own, but it would certainly gain the NCAA Tournament committee's attention and could kickstart a run in the SEC Tournament for Alabama, giving the Tide some much-needed momentum after a gauntlet end to the regular season.

It won’t be an easy feat to pull off. Auburn is fresh off a loss to Texas A&M, and the Tigers are celebrating senior day with its archrival in town. Auburn’s high-ranking postseason situation is also firmly intact regardless of the result, making Saturday’s game an old-fashioned case of pure bragging rights between two teams that have set the standard for basketball in the SEC.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of the IBOB rematch.

Who: No. 7 Alabama (23-7, 12-5 SEC) vs. No. 1 Auburn (27-3, 15-2)

When: 1:30 p.m. CT, Saturday, March 8

Where: Neville Arena, Auburn, Alabama

Watch: ESPN (Play-By-Play: Karl Ravech, Analyst: Jimmy Dykes, Analyst: Dick Vitale, Sideline: Molly McGrath)

Listen: Crimson Tide Sports Network | SIRIUS/XM 134/201 Play-By-Play: Chris Stewart, Analyst: Bryan Passink)

Mark Sears: 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, graduate

Stats: 19.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 5.0 apg, 41.2% FG, 35.3% 3-pt

Chris Youngblood: 6-foot-4, 177 pounds, freshman

Stats: 10.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.0 apg, 43.9% FG, 37.5% 3-pt

Labaron Philon: 6-foot-4, 177 pounds, freshman

Stats: 10.7 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 3.5 apg, 46.7% FG, 31.3% 3-pt

Grant Nelson: 6-foot-11, 230 pounds, graduate

Stats: 11.7 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 1.7 apg, 52.5% FG, 24.7% 3-pt

Clifford Omoruyi: 6-foot-11, 250 pounds, graduate

Stats: 7.2 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 0.8 apg, 73.0% FG

Denver Jones: 6-foot-4, 205 pounds, senior

Stats: 10.7 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 2.4 apg, 44.1% FG, 43.1% 3-pt

Miles Kelly: 6-foot-6, 190 pounds, senior

Stats: 11.5 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.1 apg, 42.2% FG, 40.1% 3-pt

Chad Baker-Mazara: 6-foot-7, 180 pounds, senior

Stats: 13.1 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.6 apg, 47.4% FG, 39.3% 3-pt

Johni Broome: 6-foot-10, 240 pounds, senior

Stats: 18.0 ppg, 10.7 rpg, 3.3 apg, 50.4% FG, 28.6% 3-pt

Dylan Cardwell: 6-foot-11, 255 pounds, graduate student

Stats: 5.1 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 1.6 apg, 68.0%

Much of the Tigers’ success on defense in the first IBOB matchup was down to the presence of senior guard Denver Jones. The New Market, Alabama product was an efficient presence offensively, scoring 16 points on nine field goal attempts, but his impact was the strongest on the other end during the first matchup in February.

Jones hounded Alabama guard Mark Sears, holding him to just five first-half points and limiting the Tide’s offense. Jones’ perimeter defense became instrumental in setting the tone for a Tigers' win, even after Alabama found some rhythm in the second half and Sears ended up with 18 points.

“Denver’s tough, physical, athletic and most of all he’s competitive,” Oats said of Jones. “He takes pride in his defense.”

The best compliment for Jones’ defense may be the fact that no player has been able to emulate what he did against Sears since. The fifth-year guard is entering Saturday’s rematch on a scoring surge, averaging 28 points over Alabama’s five games since the loss to Auburn.

Sears’ scoring has been a byproduct of the Tide’s switch to a three-guard lineup after the Auburn loss, which has allowed him to operate more off-ball. Oats is aiming for the guard-heavy starting five featuring Sears, Labaron Philon and Chris Youngblood to yield better ball movement and allow his top scorer to continue piling on the points. But he also needs Sears to do some dirty work of his own to get the best of Auburn’s high-caliber defense.

“I hope that the three-guard lineup will help a little bit with some more creation out there to free him up,” Oats said. “But we’re gonna have to set some real screens for Mark. Mark’s gonna have to set some great screens himself to get himself freed up with a little bit of that, and then we’re gonna have to get out in transition a little bit more.”

Getting Sears going isn’t the only thing Alabama has to do to win Saturday. Oats is hoping for the Tide to generate a much quicker offensive pace after Auburn was able to control the tempo in the first matchup. Alabama had just six turnovers against the Tigers in February but also had a season-low eight assists. Possessions were long and stagnant and the Tide was unable to get its shooters open.

Though Alabama finished with 19 fastbreak points, only four of those came in the first half. Auburn was able to take control early, including getting out to a 9-0 start, while Alabama was stuck in the mud, unable to unleash its fast-paced offense.

“Our defensive rebounding would help in transition,” Oats said. “The more we can get defensive rebounds and get out in transition, and then we gotta be able to get our shooters open… They’ll run us off the line. So can we set better screens? Can we get them free a little better in transition?”

The Tigers have a bevy of offensive weapons, which means teams have to make sacrifices somewhere on defense. Alabama chose to play off a couple of Tigers players who weren't as prolific from 3 in the first matchup. The tactic didn't pay off as Auburn finished the game shooting 40% from deep. Star forward Johni Broome, a 28.6% 3-point shooter, took advantage of the relaxed perimeter defense on him, drilling two 3s as part of the Tigers' 9-0 start. Since those makes, Broome has combined for just two 3-pointers in the next five games.

“Some of it was the gameplan the coaches put together and it didn’t work as well as what we hoped,” Oats said. “Some of it is our guys gotta give a little bit better effort. We’ve got to guard their shooters and even their guys that are capable of making shots even if we won’t label them as ‘shooters.’ Like [Tahaad] Pettiford, [Chad] Baker-Mazara, [Miles] Kelly, Jones, all those guys. Even if they’re not [shooting well] — you can’t let the other guys capable of making shots just have free reign to shoot open shots either. So, guarding the 3-point line. Our defensive rebounding would help in transition.”

On top of the adjustments, Alabama has to be consistent in the small details of the game if it wants a chance to take down the nation’s No. 1 team in its own building. Oats knows his team is capable of competing with the best squads in college basketball. But a high turnover day or another outing where Alabama shoots below 70% from the free throw line, as it did against Florida and Tennesse, will sink the Tide against the best team in the country.

“They’re good,” Oats said. “I mean, you can play a really good basketball game and still lose to them. They’ve beaten a lot of really good teams that have played pretty good against them. So, we’re gonna have to do the little things well too. We’re gonna have to make free throws. We didn’t turn it over much the first game. We’re gonna have to take care of the ball again. Like, we can’t let some stuff we did well the first game all of a sudden go by the wayside emphasizing some other stuff too.”

— This will be the first time in the Alabama-Auburn series where both meetings during the regular season are AP Top-10 matchups.

— Since 2018, Auburn and Alabama have combined to win five regular season and four SEC Tournament titles – Auburn (three regular season and two tournament) and Alabama (two regular season and two tournament). The Tigers and Crimson Tide are first and second in the league in combined SEC titles over that span.

— Alabama is 2-3 against the No. 1 team in the AP Top 25 Poll under Nate Oats.

— Mark Sears is the only player in the SEC to rank in the top-five in both scoring (No. 2, 19.5 ppg) and assists (No. 2, 5.0 apg).

— Aden Holloway has scored 10 points or more in 21 games coming off the bench this season, which leads the SEC.

— Auburn is looking to sweep Alabama for the third time in the last seven seasons. Prior to 2019, the Tigers had not swept the Crimson Tide since 2009.

— The game features two of the Top 5 active career scorers in NCAA Division I – Alabama’s Mark Sears (2,736 points, 1st) and Auburn’s Johni Broome (2,532 points, 5th).

— With a win, Auburn would set new program records with its 16th SEC win and 28th regular season win. A 16th SEC victory would be tied for the sixth-most in league history.