Auburn basketball's extensive road losing streak against Florida has finally come to an end, something that could be the perfect turnaround for the team this season.
I had the priveledge, for lack of a better word, of being in the building for the final installment in Auburn basketball's seemingly endless road losing streak against Florida.
The day before during head coach Bruce Pearl's press conference previewing the game, he joked about everything going on in the world during 1996, the last time the Tigers had managed to beat the Gators away from the friendly confines of Beard Eves Memorial Coliseum, or Neville Arena in more recent years.
From referencing music trends to poking fun at Bill Clinton, Pearl emphasized that a lot had changed in the world since the last time Auburn was victorious in Gainesville.
After a brief breakfast stop at the Phenix City Chick-fil-A, Matthew Wallace of the Auburn Villager and I were on the road to Gainesville. Five hours later — including a stop for me to recieve a speeding ticket from one of the Peach state's finest – we arrived in Gainesville.
Despite the calendar reading February, it felt like summer time. After exploring the campus, including walking into Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, we made our way inside the Stephen C. O'Connell Center to begin our coverage.
Shortly after tipoff, it was evident that it was not going to be Auburn's day. A few hours later, the already extensive streak was extended to 15 games.
Watching Auburn bring that streak to an end nearly two years later brought back the fond memories from that trip, but I believe it will play a meaningful role for the Tigers this season as well.
This team needed a confidence boost, and what better way to provide a spark in that department than upsetting a top 20 team — who happens to be the same team that defeated you in the Final Four and went on to win the national title last season — and bringing a not-so-fun piece of your program's history to an end?
Auburn has a chance to completely flip the narrative of its season. The Tigers host Texas on Wednesday, then head to Tennessee for a showdown with an impressive-looking Volunteers squad. While that game will be hard, I, as well as many others, feel much better about the Tigers' chances of being victorious in Knoxville than I was before the Florida game.
The SEC could still be any team's to win, and Auburn has a chance to fight its way right back into the conversation.