AUBURN, AL - It was a normal January Friday in Auburn, Alabama as students finished their second week of the spring semester. The weather called for rain and cold temperatures throughout the coming days. It was to be a quiet weekend for the university.

Except ‘quiet’ wasn’t in the forecast. A storm was brewing on the horizon as a small town began to form in the heart of Auburn University populated with students who had one thing on their mind; witnessing a basketball beat-down come Saturday morning.

There had been talk and rumor of camping out the night prior to the Auburn-Kentucky men’s basketball matchup Saturday, January 22nd, but no one could’ve predicted just how early the dedicated students who make up The Jungle, Auburn’s official student section, would start pitching their tents.

It was to be a party on the plains. An unsanctioned overnight tailgate and campout; a wild concept for any student section to do, but even more historical for a program that previously begged for students to fill rows of empty courtside bleachers. An event that would bring the university together in ways that redefine what it means to be part of the Auburn Family.

“It’s insane down here”, said Auburn student Jennings McGill from his front row spot in the newly created tent town.

McGill and his friends, Robert Houser, Will Drambel, Yancey Kerr and Lawson Stricker came prepared that fateful Friday morning, hauling tents, camping chairs, blankets and coolers from their dorms and apartments to the green space between Aubie Residence Hall and Auburn Arena. With the game not set to tip off until noon the next day, the group thought a late morning start would be enough to secure a prime spot for the biggest game on the plains so far this season between (at the time) number two Auburn and number 12 blue-blood Kentucky.

Throughout the day, more and more tents popped up with more students congregating together and making a day of it. Cornhole sets dot the green space while the outskirts of the growing compound have the signs of small grills coming in.

When asked the big question ‘why so early?’ Drambel replied, “You know, the players give it their all and we want to give it our all too.”

“They’ve done so much to bring this university together and we want to support that” Stricker chimed in, while Houser’s take was simple: “I want to be able to high-five KD Johnson when we knock off Kentucky tomorrow.”

By 8pm Friday night, the Auburn Recreation Center posted pictures of the students camping out alongside photos of empty tent racks and shelves with a caption that read “We knew Auburn students were totally “sold out” for @auburnmbb, and now so are we!”. x

Some students took outdoor comfort to another level, bringing out couches to keep from sitting on the ground through the night when temperatures would reach well below freezing.

“I’ve waited for games before, and it’s been really cold and there’s nothing worse than being up against the concrete because you can never get your body heat up,” Ashley Fountain, another student who has experience waiting in lines like this said. “So we decided that something that would be more comfortable would be a couch because it holds heat better and it’s super comfortable and we heard that we were going to be here all night.”

Fountain and her friends had taken to Goodwill hunting for an inexpensive couch to haul onto campus, citing it would be much easier loading up a new couch than getting one they already own out of their apartments and onto their friend’s pickup truck.

The town’s size began to slow with the start of the Auburn Gymnastics meet within the arena that night and with temperatures beginning to rapidly drop. Periodically through the evening and through to the morning, multiple organizations on campus showed support for the students braving the elements, providing food, warm drinks, hats, scarves and handwarmers to as many freezing students as possible.

Aid even came from outside of the university as Auburn alum Allie Davison took to Twitter to rally funds to buy more food and drink for the students for the morning rush. By tip-off the next morning, Davison had raised $12,063 in total, allotting $4,213 towards supplies and donating the remaining $7,850 to the AUTLive Foundation, Coach Bruce Pearl’s non-profit cancer foundation.

After nearly 24 hours waiting through winds, rains and generosity from the whole community, The Jungle roared to life as the doors to the arena finally opened at 10:30am, the warmth within only part of the draw with students rushing forward, phones in hand to scan in and make mad dashes to the student section. Somehow, all who camped out that fateful night managed to crowd into a sold-out Auburn Arena to watch the Tigers take down the Kentucky Wildcats, a win which would prove the home-court advantage Auburn has to be unparalleled and unmatched.

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