IBOB Draws Record Viewership on ESPN

The Iron Bowl of Basketball always draws hype and viewership within the state of Alabama, with both the Crimson Tide and the Tigers captivating their fanbases twice a year with a hate-filled rivalry.

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This year's Iron Bowl of Basketball just meant more, with Auburn coming to Tuscaloosa as the No. 1 team in the country to take on No. 2 ranked Alabama. College Gameday arrived in Tuscaloosa for just the second time in Alabama basketball history to capture the historic rivalry.

As a result of the star-studded matchup between Alabama and Auburn, AL.com revealed that it was the most-watched game on ESPN so far this college basketball season, with an average of 2.8 million viewers and a peak of 3.5 million.

Alabama never held a lead in the 94-85 loss to Auburn - the first time a Nate Oats-led Alabama squad never held a lead in a game.

The peak of 3.5 million viewers of Alabama and Auburn on Saturday would have tied for 84th among the top 100 most-watched college football games of the year according to Football Scoop.

Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl was proud of the magnitude that the Iron Bowl of Basketball brought to the college basketball world on Saturday,

"I think the thing I'm proudest of is that all eyes of college basketball were on the state of Alabama and the SEC. What this conference has done in men's basketball is historic, and you never know if a game can live up to the hype," Pearl said following his team's win on Saturday.

For context, Kansas' victory over Duke in November averaged 2 million viewers according to On3 Sports.

Wyatt Fulton is the TIde 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.