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This is an opinion column.

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Alabama doesn’t play Auburn in basketball until mid-February, but the comparisons will begin now.

Give the first round of fisticuffs to Nate Oats, the masterful coach of the Crimson Tide.

Alabama lit Birmingham’s Legacy Arena ablaze on Wednesday night, and then afterwards Oats scorched Pearl with a burn that will sting throughout the cold winter.

Displaying the type of depth that can deliver a league title and earn a No.1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, Alabama defeated a good Illinois team 100-87. Notable was the fact that Alabama’s veteran guard, Mark Sears, didn’t score a single point, and apparently even benched himself, and yet Illinois trailed by double digits for most of the game.

Sears didn’t speak with reporters during post-game, but, according to Oats, Alabama’s starting point guard held himself out of the second half because he could see that his backcourt mates had things under control. Starting two-guard Latrell Wrightsell, Jr., had an efficient 16 points, but the headlines will go to Labaron Philon and Aden Holloway.

Labaron, the freshman from Mobile, had a LeBron-esque 16 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. Holloway, the transfer from Auburn, had 18 points on 7 of 10 shooting and 3 of 4 from distance.

Based on his defense, Labaron is starting to look like a future first-round pick. His energy is infectious. I asked Labaron about his hot start to the season. He said he’s not trying to be a hero on the court. Put it on a poster. I’m already in love with his game.

Incendiary Oats was then asked about Holloway’s role on the team and Alabama’s coach didn’t shy away from the question.

Certainly Holloway had good games at Auburn, Oats said, before adding that, “We thought he could be more like he was out of high school, and that’s what he was tonight.”

Intentional or not, it came off as a direct shot at Pearl’s ability to develop guards. For the record, both Pearl and Oats have a pretty good history of putting players in the NBA.

Have I mentioned yet how fun this basketball season is going to be?

Oats, fresh off of his first trip to a Final Four, is feeling himself these days. He has one of the best teams in the country, and he’s already using his once-Auburn guard to go after Alabama’s in-state rival. If Holloway develops into a consistent player, then it could be used as a major chess piece for Oats on the recruiting trail.

The next opportunity to compare Alabama and Auburn isn’t far off. Alabama travels to Las Vegas on Tuesday for a Thanksgiving-week showcase against Houston. Auburn went to Houston and manhandled the Cougars 74-69 back at the beginning of November. It remains one of the best wins of the non-conference schedule in the country.

Alabama’s victory against Illinois isn’t far off, though, and especially considering Sears wasn’t at his best.

“He’s under a lot of pressure,” Oats said after the game.

Oats has a habit of saying pretty much everything he’s thinking, but that observation of his star player felt loaded down with layered intent. Oats is known as a stats guy, but he’s also an excellent motivator. Sears has played in a Final Four, so the bright lights of Legacy Arena shouldn’t have been a problem. If Sears is feeling any pressure at all, then it’s coming from Alabama’s own depth at the guard position.

Philon, the freshman who prepped at Baker High School in Mobile, looks like one of the best young guards in the country. He was originally committed to Kansas last summer, but he ended up choosing Alabama in the end. It looks like he made the right decision.

I asked Oats if he was surprised by Philon’s immediate impact. It’s not just his offense. Philon is already Alabama’s second-best backcourt defender behind Wrightsell. Oats said he would have been surprised by Philon last summer, but that when he showed up on campus he quickly became one of Alabama’s best guards.

Oats said the key to Philon’s early ascension is open competition on the practice court. No one is guaranteed minutes. No one is promised anything. It’s Saban-type stuff. Survival of the fittest. That’s a tricky proposition in the NIL era, but Oats is managing it well. It’s why NBA executives are paying attention to Alabama’s fiery coach.

Oats might very well be a coach in the NBA one day, but I don’t think he’s leaving Alabama for another college-level gig at this point. He has everything he wants at Alabama, and that includes a better version of Auburn’s former guard.

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Joseph Goodman is the lead sports columnist for the Alabama Media Group, and author of the book “We Want Bama: A Season of Hope and the Making of Nick Saban’s Ultimate Team.”