Final Four run captivates, inspires Auburn football team

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Boobee Whitlow has a confession.

The LaFayette native and Auburn running back grew up a Duke basketball fan.

“Listen, I’m going to be honest,” Whitlow said. “I ride for the home team, but ever since I was a little jit, that’s been my team—I’ve been going with Duke. But when they played the home team (in the Maui Invitational), I’m like, we’re finna smash all them.”

Despite his Blue Devil allegiance, Whitlow has been captivated by the run of this Auburn basketball team — one that has taken the Tigers to the Final Four for the first time in program history, where they will face top-seeded Virginia in Minneapolis on Saturday at 5:09 p.m. on CBS.

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To get to this stage, Auburn completed a grueling Midwest Region gauntlet that began with an upset-minded 12-seed in New Mexico State in the first round, followed by three consecutive games against the three winningest programs in basketball history: fourth-seeded Kansas, top-seeded North Carolina and second-seeded Kentucky — the Wildcats being the last team to hand the Tigers a loss all the way back in late February.

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I’ve been here nine years and been blessed to be part of two national championship runs, and being there yesterday, it feels the same way,” Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said. “They’re doing something special. Just how fired up they have the whole Auburn family and the school — this whole school is on cloud nine with what they’re doing and the way they’re doing it.”

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“For the guys to take that next step, when they lose a player and how they play together — we can all learn from that,” Whitlow said. “We can all learn how to put the team on our backs, put the city on our backs and beat the doubters. Everybody has said we couldn't. We just showed that we can. We just beat Kansas, North Carolina and Kentucky? Those three schools are supposed to be in the Final Four. I mean, come on. Those are three known teams. They're there every year. And we just smashed all three of them.

“Virginia, y'all next. Believe that. That's how we coming, all aggressive.”

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The rest of Auburn’s football team has relished in the success of their basketball brethren. Student-athletes supporting student-athletes. Many football players have been seen in the student section for home basketball games throughout the year, and a handful of football players took part in a halftime dance routine late in the year at Auburn Arena.

They’ve all been following along intently and celebrating the team’s accomplishments accordingly — including by rolling Toomer’s Corner, which is something that the football players aren’t quite accustomed to participating in, with the tradition often reserved for big-time football wins.

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“It’s different; I felt like a kid,” said junior defensive end TD Moultry, whose first time rolling the trees was this past weekend. “I felt like a big kid throwing the tissue and just being with everybody and just being proud of Auburn. I’m an Auburn man. Anything Auburn you’ve got going on, I’m with it.”

The football team has also found motivation in the basketball team’s postseason success. They want to be on that same stage, competing for a championship at Auburn and doing so with “relentless effort” on both sides of the ball. That inspiration should serve the Tigers well, especially after the team’s first spring scrimmage last Saturday, when Moultry said they had 78 “loafs,” or low-effort moments—an unacceptable number for their standard.

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“There's doubters; they sleep on Auburn,” Whitlow said. “But this year, it's time to wake up for sure. It's time to wake up for sure. Basketball and football, man. Ain't no more sleeping on us no more. Ain't no more doubting us no more. You're going to know who we are after this year. That's how we're feeling now. Ain't no more backseat-riding. We're front seat now. We're in the driver's seat. Y'all are fixing to get on our bus. You feel me?

“That's how we're going. Gus Bus, yeah. Get on. Putting everybody on there. I'm telling you. It's fixing to be lit this year, though. Believe that. Believe that. It'll be turnt this year.”

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