We had it so good up until around this time last year. Auburn and Bruce Pearl had enjoyed a long decadent period in dominating the rivalry against Tennessee, and Rick Barnes finally broke through last season in beating Bruce for the first time in several tries.
Auburn had won six straight games in the series, starting by beating a top ten Tennessee squad in Knoxville in early 2018, including a season finale win in 2019 at then Auburn Arena, a destruction a few days later in the SEC Championship Game, and then the culmination of the shortened 2020 season where the Tigers got 8 threes from Samir Doughty and squashed the Vols in Knoxville again.