The Hornets will keep on dancing! But before we get to their postseason heroics, let’s take a second to appreciate the fact that this has been the greatest basketball season in this once football-only state. And Alabama State just made sure we won’t forget it. With their first-ever NCAA Tournament win, they’ve locked in a historic milestone. Now, they’re riding this wave straight into a matchup with Bruce Pearl’s Auburn. A No. 1 vs. No. 16 seed? On paper, that seems like an easy call. But after what we just witnessed, fans aren’t buying that narrative one bit.  

This trust comes after the Hornets 70-68 First Four thriller vs. Saint Francis. They entered the SWAC tournament as a No. 5 seed, went on a streak, and punched their ticket to March Madness for the first time since 2011. And when the big moment arrived, they delivered. In the first game of the tournament, Amarr Knox made sure everyone would remember his name.

With the game locked at 68 and just 3.4 seconds left, Alabama put forth a show reminiscent of Christian Laettner’s iconic shot. Micah Simpson channeled his inner quarterback and launched a full-court pass to inbound the ball. Chaos ensued—four players from both teams jumped for it, the ball bounced around like a pinball, and somehow, it landed right in Amarr Knox’s hands. Reflecting on Simpson’s heroics, Knox remarked, “He makes that pass on the money all the time in practice. It was perfect today.“

While the “quarterback” of the play originally aimed his pass at Jasteven Walker, the chaotic beauty of March Madness took over. The ball first made contact with Walker, then deflected off TJ Madlock in a moment of pure unpredictability before ending up in the right place at the right time- in the hands of Amarr Knox, stationed right under the Saint Francis basket. And you already know what happened next. Knox turned it into a game-winning layup with less than a second to go.

“It wasn’t supposed to go to me, but I wanted to go get it, go make a play, and that’s what I did,” Madlock said. “But it wasn’t supposed to go to me, it was supposed to go to our big. But hey, it’s March Madness. Anything can happen.”

Truly! It was chaos. It was perfect. It was March. Knox wrapped up the night with a team-high 16 points and two steals, but one bucket is all anyone’s gonna be talking about. And though he’s already been putting up 14.3 points per game on 39.5% shooting in his sophomore year, this has to be the exact moment where the Hornets are especially grateful he chose Alabama State over Memphis.

Alabama State struck first, but their offense took a minute (or a lot of minutes) to get going. That’s kind of been the story for a team ranked 344th in the country in field-goal percentage. They came out shooting just 29% in the first four minutes, and while that number climbed as the game went on, they were playing catch-up for most of the night. And it didn’t help that Saint Francis came out on fire, hitting 64% of their shots in the first 13 minutes. Bama’s slow start allowed them to build a nine-point lead in the first half. But the Hornets weren’t going down easy—thanks to their 5-of-11 shooting from deep, they managed to hang around. 

They kept chipping away, getting within a point multiple times in the second half. It took them four tries, but with just over four minutes left, they finally grabbed the lead. Red Flash wasn’t done, though. They tied it back up with just over 30 seconds to go. But Alabama State wanted this moment too bad to let it slip. So, a Hornets team that thrived in close contests throughout the SWAC Tournament was more than prepared for another high-pressure moment. They were desperate for history and gave us the perfect way to kick off March.

“All of our games end just like this,” Tony Madlock said. And fans will be hoping for the same when the now official matchup takes place. Two programs separated by just 55 miles are set to face off at Rupp Arena on Thursday. Auburn fans might be looking at last time’s 82-62 win over the Hornets and feeling confident. But the Alabama fans have full faith. As the coach put it, “We’re going to have this bus ride a couple hours down the road to play in Lexington at Rupp Arena..How can you beat that — for a school in the SWAC that has a lot of great tradition for us to go play at Rupp Arena? Nothing like it. We can’t wait.”

Alabama State is coming for Auburn, and fans are losing it

“Imma pick Alabama State over Auburn,” one fan boldly declared. And that’s not even the wildest take considering where Auburn’s at right now. The Tigers have been one of the best teams all season, but they’re heading into this matchup fresh off a 70-65 loss to Tennessee in the SEC semifinals. That was their third loss in just 11 days. Not exactly the best time to hit a rough patch.

Another fan kept it real, saying, “Not your fault you’re next on Alabama State’s schedule @AuburnMBB.” Basically, fans are warning the Tigers that the Hornets are coming, and they don’t care about the numbers next to their names. With standout players like CJ Hines and a fired-up Knox, this Alabama State squad has the energy and momentum to be dangerous. We’ve seen how streaks fuel teams in March, and right now, the Hornets have all the ingredients to keep this ride going.

One fan chimed in, “Alabama State… unreal.” And that about sums it up. Whether it’s this game or this entire season, Alabama State has been one of the biggest surprises in college basketball. They finished with a 19-15 record, went 12-6 in the SWAC, and are now playing their best basketball when it matters most. Plus, not to forget, head coach Tony Madlock knows Auburn well. He was an assistant there from 2010 to 2014 under Tony Barbee. If there’s anyone who can cook up a game plan to make things interesting, it’s him. 

Then came the inevitable March Madness hype. “Alabama State might go the distance. Calling it right now. It’s fu-g March.” Look, we get it, despite the excitement. It’s the time of year when chaos reigns supreme, and anything can happen. But the Tigers also didn’t grind through an entire season just to fumble in the first round. This is still a No. 1 seed with NPOY contender Johni Broome, and even though they’ve had a rough stretch, they’ll be looking to remind everyone why they’ve been one of the best teams in the country.

Another simply penned, “After all that, Alabama State gets in-state #1 overall Auburn 2 days later.” After that emotional rollercoaster, they’re now staring down a program they’ve faced six times before—and lost to every single time. The most recent meeting was a comfortable Auburn win in December 2023. History isn’t on Alabama State’s side, and neither are the predictions. But Alabama knows that all too well and they are not getting ahead of themselves. The coach had said that his team spends 10-12 minutes on situational elements before any game. Come Alabama, and they know they might have to shoot it up to 30. 

This is about as big of a test as they come. But again, this is March, and crazy things happen when the madness starts. So, expect the unexpected and tell us in the comments who you side with.