Every opportunity it has had, Auburn has proven itself to be the best team in the country. Now at 23-2 after a Saturday win over No. 2 Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Bruce Pearl’s Tigers are firmly cemented as the top team in the country with just six games remaining in the regular season.
Heading into Wednesday night’s matchup with John Calipari’s Arkansas Razorbacks, Auburn has wins over four of the current top 10 teams in the country, No. 4 Alabama, No. 5 Houston, No. 6 Tennessee, and No. 8 Iowa State, and its only two losses are to No. 2 Florida and No. 3 Duke. Yet, the Tigers still have plenty of work to do.
Coach Cal’s Razorbacks have turned things around after a slow start and could trip up the Tigers in a letdown spot, then after hosting Georgia this upcoming weekend, Auburn finishes out the regular season with four straight ranked opponents, including another top-10 foe, No. 7 Texas A&M.
The Tigers have a chance to put together a historically dominant regular season against one of the most difficult schedules imaginable, so they can’t afford a home upset to Arkansas on Wednesday night. Here’s how you can watch this SEC matchup on ESPN.
How to watch Arkansas vs. No. 1 Auburn
- Date: Wednesday, February 19
- Time: 9:00 p.m. ET
- Venue: Neville Arena
- How to Watch (TV): ESPN
- Streaming: fubo TV
- Arkansas record: 15-10 (4-8)
- Auburn record: 23-2 (11-1)
Arkansas vs. Auburn odds, spread and total
Odds provided by FanDuel Sportsbook
Moneyline
- Arkansas +1160
- Auburn -2800
Spread
- Arkansas +16.5 (-102)
- Auburn -16.5 (-120)
Total
- 152.5 (over -110/under -110)
Arkansas injury report
- Boogie Fland, G: OUT (hand)
Auburn injury report
- N/A
Auburn and Arkansas series history
- Auburn all-time record vs. Arkansas: 22-38
Arkansas vs. Auburn prediction
Following an 0-5 start to conference play, Coach Cal has steadied the ship in Fayetteville, leading the Razorbacks to wins in four of their last seven and playing his way onto the NCAA Tournament bubble. Now, an upset win over No. 1 Auburn would be a resume builder that would make it almost impossible to keep the Hogs out of the big dance, but it’ll be difficult to come by.
Auburn is the most efficient offensive team in the country and scored at will on Alabama, even with National Player of the Year candidate Johni Broome re-aggravating his early-season ankle injury. Broome will be good to go on Wednesday, though he hasn’t been 100% for much of the year and likely won’t be again. Still, Broome has managed to dominate, averaging 18.1 points, 10.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 2.7 blocks.
It’s been nearly impossible to slow Broome and the Auburn offense, but this matchup will be particularly difficult for the Razorbacks. Arkansas is most adept at defending corner threes and two-point attempts from the paint, Auburn’s two least frequent attempts relative to the average in college basketball. And Cal’s team is weakest defending at the rim, allowing opponents to shoot 61.4% (according to CBBanalytics), and above the break three-point shots, allowing a 31.8% mark. In other words, Arkansas is built defensively to stop shots that Auburn is largely uninterested in while it is vulnerable to the looks that Pearl’s team will hunt.
There is a chance that Auburn has a letdown performance after its big win over Alabama, but a team this good can still coast to a blowout win over Arkansas.