Auburn and MTSU aim to engineer a classic in the Rocket City

Though separated by about 300 miles or so, Auburn and Middle Tennessee State have a commonality – strong engineering programs.

And where better to bring their basketball teams than to Huntsville, where we have a few engineers with degrees from Auburn and MTSU.

In fact, the Tigers and Blue Raiders will meet Dec. 15 in the annual Rocket City Classic presented by Akima, it was announced Wednesday.

“We’re taking the Rocket City Classic to a new level,” said Mayor Tommy Battle. “Auburn and MTSU provide lots of engineers for Huntsville. They provide the workers that make us go.”

The game, which could create an economic impact upward from $500,000, is able to come together through the teamwork of the Huntsville-Madison Convention & Visitors Bureau, City of Huntsville, Huntsville Sports Commission, the Von Braun Center and Knight/Eady.

“This is one of the cornerstone events of our sports platform,” said Joel Lamp, sports development manager of the CVB. “When you have everybody pulling in the same direction, you can achieve a lot.”

Auburn Head Coach Steven Pearl and MTSU Head Coach Nick McDevitt were at the news conference moderated by Tom Perkins of SportsMed.

This will be Pearl’s first visit to the Rocket City as a head coach while McDevitt’s Blue Raiders are no strangers due to the annual CUSA Tournament hosted at the VBC.

“This is what our fan base can look forward to,” McDevitt said. “Our fans really enjoy Huntsville. There’s so much to do and it’s an easy drive.

“Hopefully, we’ll have the same luck as Antoine.”

McDevitt was referring to Kennesaw State Head Coach Antoine Pettway whose team played against his alma mater Alabama in last year’s Classic. The Owls, though they lost to the Tide in that game, returned to Huntsville in March and won the CUSA championship on the same VBC court.

Pearl, whose team won the NIT championship last season, said he’s looking forward to the game with Huntsville High grad Simon Walker on the squad.

“Simon is really excited about the game,” Pearl said. 

He said he’s not upset about the Tigers being left out of the NCAA Tournament last year for a simple reason: “We lost too many games. We didn’t deserve to be in it.”

Then they received an invitation to the NIT and it was an easy decision.

“I asked them if they wanted their season to end the way it did against Tennessee or have a chance to continue playing,” Pearl said.

It was an easy decision which resulted in the NIT championship.

McDevitt said his team’s familiarity with the VBC will help – maybe not Dec. 15, but in March. 

“It’s a venue that I’ve been to several times, but we’ll have 9 or 10 new players,” he said. “The good thing is when we come back in March, there will be a comfort factor.”

He said it is an opportunity for his squad to play a major program and not at the opponents’ arena. 

“I really appreciate the folks here in Huntsville and Coach Pearl for the willingness to play us,” McDevitt said. “For us to be able to play a power conference team on a neutral site is almost impossible. To play it two hours from home is amazing.”

Presale tickets (the code is RCC2026) go on sale Monday; the public sale is 10 a.m. next Wednesday. They are available online through Ticketmaster or skip the fees and go to the VBC box office.

“This will be a sellout real quick,” Battle said. “Get your tickets early. This is an opportunity for all of North Alabama to see the Auburn Tigers.”