Bruce Pearl urges Auburn fans to ‘be mindful of our language’ during Alabama game
Rivalries in college sports are intense, and there are few games that reach a higher intensity level than when Auburn and Alabama play, particularly in football and men’s basketball.
The first meeting between the two basketball teams this season took place in front of a packed crowd at Coleman Coliseum, and there was clearly no love lost between the two programs.
At one point in the game, head coach Nate Oats even had to grab the stadium microphone to ask fans to stop throwing objects onto the court.
After the events of this season’s first Iron Bowl of basketball, Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl took to social media, urging Auburn fans to be loud, but keep it clean during Saturday’s game against the Crimson Tide.
Pearl even mentioned during the video that, “sometimes when our basketball team goes on the road, the opponent’s crowd will be not only cheering for them, but actually using bad language and saying things in cheers that kids in the stands should not hear.”
Those comments came after chants of, “F*** you, Auburn,” rained down from the Alabama student section before and during the first game against Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
“My message is, let’s finish this thing up the right way,” Pearl said in the video. ”You guys have done it with unbelievable intensity, with so much fun and so much passion and so much joy, but let’s be mindful of our language, let’s be mindful of continuing to be great Auburn men and women and let’s continue to keep calling up the Lord.”
Saturday’s game against Alabama is the final regular season game of the season and will be Auburn’s senior day. Tipoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPN.
Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at [email protected]m