What Auburn basketball's Bruce Pearl said about ESPN's 'College GameDay' coming for Alabama game

It was announced last Saturday that ESPN's "College GameDay" would be visiting Neville Arena for Auburn basketball's game against Alabama on Saturday, Feb. 11, putting even more fanfare around a matchup that wasn't lacking any theater.

The Crimson Tide is tabbed as the No. 3 team in the country by both the AP Poll and the USA TODAY Coaches Poll. And with a win over the Tigers, Alabama could severely damage Auburn's (17-7, 7-4 SEC) hopes of landing a top-four seed in the conference and securing a double bye in the SEC Tournament.

"Obviously, 'College GameDay' being there will be very, very special," coach Bruce Pearl said to the Auburn Sports Network following his team's loss at Texas A&M on Tuesday. "To beat Alabama, we've got to have the best game of the year."

The Tigers lost to the Aggies, 83-78, marking their second consecutive defeat and their third in four games. The Crimson Tide (20-3, 10-0) is 11-1 over its last 12 contests with a matchup against Florida scheduled for Wednesday (8 p.m. CT, ESPN2).

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Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: What Auburn basketball's Bruce Pearl said about ESPN's 'College GameDay'