Last week, I ranked my top 10 Auburn sports moments of the last four seasons. This week, I will take the opposite end of the spectrum and rank my 10 worst games attended since becoming a student.

I based my rankings off of three criteria: game atmosphere, game result, and fan experiences. Many of these were incredible atmospheres but horrid results and fans. This is not science so I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts as well!

10. Basketball Losing the Lead at Ole Miss (February 11, 2017)

This was an awful game mostly because of how the game played out. Auburn led early on and closed the first half on a 26-8 run to take a 47-27 lead into halftime! Clint Richardson joined me on this trip and everything was going great through halftime. Auburn was shooting lights out, the gym was dead silent, and our stomachs were full courtesy of Ajax Diner (by far the best part of the trip).

Once the second half came, the wheels on the bus did not go round and round. Rather, they fell off and it was an epic fiery crash. The Rebels outscored Auburn 63-37 in the second half to earn the 90-84 victory. The Auburn defense gave up 63 points in one half. It was a tough pill to swallow after the first half went so well.

9. Losing Anfernee, the Game at South Carolina (February 17, 2018)

I’ll start by saying the atmosphere at South Carolina was far better than I imagined. Even with a less than full arena, the crowd was incredible. Frank Martin has that program on the rise. So why does the game make this list? Auburn lost and one of the Tigers’ best players went down with an excruciating injury that brought the gym to silence. Anfernee McLemore went down late in the first half and the bench was shaken by the sight immediately. When I got home and saw the replay, I quickly understood why the bench reacted the way they did. Anfernee had fractured and dislocated his left ankle and would miss the rest of the season. The Tigers ended up losing 84-75 as well. Auburn showed grit during the second half, though, clawing back to within five after having been down by as much as 26 in the first half. The viewing experience was not pleasant either, as six adolescents were pelting me with popcorn and ice cubes for most of the game. Overall, it was a rough game with a horrible five hour drive back to Auburn afterwards.

8. Sugar Bowl vs Oklahoma in New Orleans (January 2, 2017)

The Sugar Bowl was an overall fun trip with a great week spent in New Orleans, but the game itself was miserable. Seeing Baker Mayfield and Joe Mixon slice and dice Auburn’s defense was a nightmare. I am also not fans of either player. The situation was not any better once I returned to Auburn with my roommate being a huge Oklahoma fan. The game was rough and fan bases do not get much worse than Oklahoma, in my opinion.

7. Extra Innings, Season Ending Loss to Florida State in the Tallahassee Regional (June 4, 2017)

What an incredible atmosphere and a game for the ages, combined with quite the heartbreaking result. Josh Anthony came up to bat in the ninth with the Tigers trailing 6-5, and produced a 2 RBI single up the middle. That gave Auburn the 7-6 lead. I was hugging Anthony’s grandparents and anybody within reach at that point. Things were going great until the bottom of the ninth. The first two outs consisted of an easy strikeout and ground out. Auburn was one out away from hosting Sam Houston State in a Super Regional! Naturally, FSU hit a triple, followed up with a single to tie the game. So, we went to extra innings. In the extra frames, FSU won on a walk off hit by pitch. But I will never put blame on the pitcher, as Auburn should have closed things out in the ninth when they had their opportunity. This was a gut wrenching experience that was followed with a four hour drive back from Tallahassee, putting us home around 4:00 a.m.

6. Basketball at Madison Square Garden on vs Boston College (December 12, 2017)

My father and I got the amazing opportunity to head to the Big Apple for a week. Madison Square Garden is the Basketball Mecca of the World and it was a privilege to visit. Auburn fans made up approximately 90% of the crowd, making it a fun atmosphere to be in. But Auburn was trying to contend for an NCAA tournament spot and Boston College was not a good basketball team. They finished the season 9-23. Auburn hit two clutch free throws with 7.5 seconds left to take the 71-70 lead. Boston College came down the floor and attempted a layup, but was missed. Unfortunately, a BC player tipped it in with .2 seconds remaining, to give the Eagles the 72-71 win. It was a true heart-breaker for a team with aspirations to reach the postseason. And for so many fans that made the long trip to New York City.

5. Football at UGA on (November 12, 2016)

This trip was awful from start to finish. We had to park two miles away from the stadium because every road in Athens was blocked off. On our trek to the stadium, we had to pass by all the fraternity houses full of Georgia boys screaming obscenities and words I had never even heard before. The game itself was an offensive nightmare, as Sean White tried to toughen things out through an injury. Looking back, most fans think the coaches should have given a healthy Jeremy Johnson a shot, but nonetheless, Sean was our guy that game. Auburn racked up 164 total yards of offense all game in route to a 13-7 loss. On the walk back to the car, we had grown men barking at us. At that very moment I pledged to never go back to Athens for a football game.

4. First Trip to St. Louis – SEC Basketball Tournament (March 9, 2018)

This trip wasn’t supposed to be short, but it was. An awful trip to St. Louis started with driving nine and a half after I finished class the Thursday before spring break. We got into St. Louis about 1:30 in the morning to figure out the hotel I had booked was priced high only because of location, not quality. Though downtown, the hotel was not even close worth what I paid. But let’s move on to the game. We got to the arena and, to our delight, we figured out our tickets were court-side seats right by the Auburn bench. Things started out well, to our surprise, as Auburn had been a second half team all season. At halftime, Auburn was leading Alabama 41-31 and were happy with the performance. But then the second half started. Auburn was outscored 50-22 in the second half on the way to a 81-63 blowout loss to our biggest rival. Follow the loss with another nine and a half hour drive back home. To add on to the misery, Casey Mize threw his no hitter on the same day and we weren’t in person to witness it.

3. Gainesville Super Regional Heartbreak (June 11, 2018)

This was a loss of heartbreaking proportions as Auburn was so close to advancing to the College World Series for the first time since 1997. Overall, it was an incredible trip spent with many friends, but the way Auburn loss will sting for a while. The Tigers won on Sunday to extend our stay, much to our pleasure. It was a winner-take-all game three and the Tigers battled all game. Nine innings were not enough. In the eleventh inning, a Florida player hit a walk off homer to end Auburn’s dreams. This one stung so much because of how close we were to Omaha and the friendships I had made with the 2018 squad.

2. Football at LSU (October 16, 2017)

This 2:30 game on the Bayou was enjoyable most of the game as Auburn jumped out to an early 20-0 lead. I was sitting with mostly Auburn fans and things were upbeat. Then it all took a turn starting with 32 seconds left in the first half when LSU had a couple big plays and closed the gap to 23-14 right before halftime. The second half was a dismal offensive performance, amassing only 64 total yards and zero points on the road. All that led to a 27-23 loss. The Cajuns were fired up and loving Coach O and they were not hesitant to let you know it. The mile walk back to the car was full of many “Tiger Baits” and “Geaux Tigers!”

1. Baseball’s Marathon Outing vs Alabama (May 7, 2017)

This is the most heartbreaking loss for me in my time here at Auburn and it was mainly due to the season Alabama baseball had up until this series. Alabama came to the Plains with a 15-29 overall record and a 2-19 record in the SEC. They were bad and there is no other way to put it. After a rainout on Friday, it was decided we would play a doubleheader on Saturday. The doubleheader featured two losses to the Crimson Tide. Auburn had already lost a critical series. Sunday’s game started with a 4:02 first pitch. It would continue until 10:38, making it a nice quick six and a half hour game. A questionable call, to say the least, 7th inning eventually helped give Alabama the lead. The game went 14 innings before Alabama scored two in the top of the 15th to take the 11-9 lead. Auburn got two runners on base in the bottom half of the inning, but failed to plate either, ending the game. This weekend ended all hopes of potentially hosting a regional, as Auburn had been swept by a squad that was outside the top 100 in RPI rankings. To make it all the better, I had a two hour drive back to Birmingham that night to have my wisdom teeth removed at 8:00 the next morning. This will forever go down as one of my least favorable memory with Auburn Athletics!

Honorable mentions:

Losing to Oklahoma in Game 3 of WCWS (June 8, 2016)

Mississippi State rising to #1 in the country after winning 38-23 (October 11, 2014)

Exhibition loss to Barry University 95-100 (November 2, 2017)

While these are my worst memories at Auburn sporting events, they’re fun to look back on because, at the end of the day, it’s a game featuring college athletes. No matter what the people over in Tuscaloosa think, it’s just a game. These were all some great games and unfortunately, Auburn did not end up on the winning side of things. I am sure I’ll endure many more heartbreak memories to come, but surely enough, there will also be the great memories that will surpass all of these bad ones.