Bruce Pearl Stresses Importance of Beating Georgia: ‘It Matters to Auburn’

There’s no question who is the biggest rival for the Auburn Tigers. There are no distractions, no common ground when it comes to Auburn vs. Alabama. There are no major professional sports teams in the state to bond over. It’s 365 days of animosity.

That said with Auburn sitting roughly 30 miles west of the Alabama/Georgia state line, many of the Auburn family consider the Georgia Bulldogs their biggest rival. A large contingent of Auburn students and alumni hail from the Peach State, and familiarity breeds contempt.

Auburn basketball coach Bruce Pearl understands the importance of beating Georgia, even if the Bulldogs are struggling on the court this year with a 4-10 record in the conference. The dominance Kirby Smart’s crew has found in football over the Tigers, winning 11 of the last 12, has reciprocated in basketball for Auburn.

Auburn won a hard-fought game against the Bulldogs 82-70 on Saturday, and Pearl discussed the Bulldogs who are a tougher team than their record might indicate.

“Beating Georgia matters to Auburn. It matters to me,” said Pearl after the game. “I believe that’s 13 out of the last 16 and that’s a pretty good stretch against one of your rivals.”

As the former head coach of the Tennessee Volunteers, another of Georgia’s biggest rivals, beating the Bulldogs holds a special place in his heart. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a lot of respect for Georgia and their head coach Mike White.

“It’s just about survival, right? That’s just what it’s really about. The league is so good and so competitive. And to see Georgia come in here and play so hard, they had a great, great, great game plan.

They played a little 3-2 zone, or a 1-2-2 zone, haven’t played it hardly at all this year. I told Coach (Mike) White I thought that was a great call, because it caught us off guard. We managed to find a few things we could do, that was good.”

While the final score showed Auburn with a 12-point win, the game was close throughout the contest. Auburn led by just five, 29-24, after a scrappy first half, and the Bulldogs trailed by just-five points with under two minutes in the game.

Beating Georgia was another step towards the No. 1 team in the country locking up a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. There are bigger games on the horizon for Bruce Pearl and the Auburn Tigers, but beating Georgia always matters to Auburn.