This is an opinion column.

Today, we’re standing on hallowed ground.

It’s like Greg Sankey stole Tobacco Road and hauled it west because the SEC — and the state of Alabama specifically — is suddenly the gravitational center of college basketball.

As planets parade, the stars align for something that reads like sci-fi fantasy.

As if the anomaly of an Alabama-Auburn split No. 1 ranking wasn’t enough when the polls dropped Monday, this glitch in the Matrix occurred the same week they play.

It will be No. 1 Auburn at No. 1 Alabama at 3 p.m. CT Saturday in Coleman Coliseum.

Uno y Uno.

Unus et Unus

This is far cooler than a clean No. 1 versus No. 2 meeting that felt like a longshot Saturday, especially after top-ranked Auburn took a healthy beating from Florida, before No. 2 Duke lost at Clemson and No. 3 Alabama beat Arkansas.

Yet, here we are with the Tigers atop the AP poll and the Crimson Tide pacing the coaches’ ballots.

Truly incredible in so many ways.

Forget the infrequency of these two basketball programs standing in either penthouse alone, but to do it on the same week is something to treasure.

It also begged the question: Has there ever been a 1v1 meeting before?

Turns out, yes. At least one.

And it was insane.

AP No. 1 Kansas beat Coaches No. 1 Oklahoma, 109-106. In three overtimes.

Imagine these two peeling the paint from the walls of Coleman for 55 minutes. It could open some portal to another level of sporting consciousness for this state.

On the same day ESPN’s College GameDay broadcasts live from Tuscaloosa — a few weeks after it did the same in Auburn, it’s time to honor this sport and its rivalry with something new.

Something all its own.

It’s overdue and we can do this together.

For too long, this has been unofficially (and to some, offensively) called the Iron Bowl of Basketball.

Some shortened it to the IBOB. Others pronounced the acronym EYE-BOB.

It’s wrong. This must be stopped.

These creatively-challenged titles are a reminder of a time when basketball was a sidecar companion for the football rivalry. That game earned the Iron Bowl moniker in 1964, with Tiger coach Ralph Jordan credited as coining what’s now part of this state’s vocabulary.

While recognizing not every game or entity deserves its own branding or nickname, the only way to kill the IBOB is to replace it with something better.

It’s time for the Alabama-Auburn basketball rivalry to gain some agency — no longer the forgotten stepbrother of the family showoff football game.

If we’re in the business of renaming gulfs, why can’t we do a basketball game?

I brainstormed a few candidates, but I welcome your submissions. Email me your thoughts, but first, a few from this ball knower.

The Conecuh Cup

It’s among the state’s only unifying and almost universally loved culinary products. And maybe the sausage makers would kick in to the two NIL funds for the honor of a naming opportunity.

Also, it flowed better than the TacoCasaYellaWood Trophy.

The ColeVille Cup

Fusing the first part of Alabama’s arena namesake (Coleman) with the second part of Auburn’s (Neville).

The Battle for 82

The shortest route between Tuscaloosa and Auburn involves the sometimes terrifying twists and turns of US-82. It’s catchier than US-82/I-65/I-85 Shootout.

Yellowhammer Slammer

It has a basketball touch but sounds too much like a new prison. And it’s already the name of a cocktail.

So, no.

The Smelt Belt

These are getting worse.

No.

The War for the Ore

A suggestion from a colleague borrows from ore’s relationship with iron. A nod to the past with its own twist.

It could come with a traveling trophy featuring a beautiful piece of rock with packed arenas chanting “SCORE FOR THE ORE!”

OK, I’ll stop.

But you can keep going. If you have something better, [email protected] is the email where I’ll collect the best submissions and take it to a vote.

Or maybe I’ll just an executive order. Those are easier.

But there’s no better time than this week to kick Alabama-Auburn basketball out of football’s shadow and into its own submission to the state lexicon.

Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.