How Auburn’s plane fight will lead to a national championship

They say what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. That’s a bit of a weird saying, and obviously not meant to be taken literally. The Auburn Tigers and their men’s basketball team did not know this, as two players started a fight forty minutes into a team flight to Texas to face the Houston Cougars.

Thankfully nobody died, but needless to say starting a scrum with two division one SEC caliber basketball players over 40,000 feet in the air has the potential to be an issue.

We have now established the flight did not kill the team thankfully, but how will it make them stronger you may ask? I will explain how not only will it make the team stronger, but it will propel the team to a national championship this season.

First off, we have to consider the Tigers and their prospects prior to this aerial assault. Their coach Bruce Pearl took the team to their first-ever Final Four back in 2019. They have a player of the year candidate in center Johni Broome.

They also entered the season at No. 11 in the preseason poll and were picked to finish second in the SEC.​​ This team clearly has national championship potential, and the flying fiasco will put them over the top.

First, we have to take a look at how the team responded to the situation. They not only got back on the flight but beat No. 4 Houston in Dallas. This in-flight fight is going to help the Tigers develop unbelievable team chemistry. Crazy events like this can serve as a rallying cry for a team, group or community. It can bring teams together and inspire them to play like they did against Houston.

It also helps that the two players involved in the fight, who CBS reported were Jahki Howard and Ja’Hiem Hudson, have not played since before the incident. Both players were reportedly not allowed back on the flight once it was ready for takeoff, which makes sense. There are also reports going around that both have been suspended from the program, with no timetable currently set for their return

. This can help the team come together as a unit that can overcome what was put in front of them. They have somewhat of a fighter mentality if you will.

Another key aspect is that a huge distraction has been removed from the locker room. An event like this more than likely was not simply impulsive because it was on a team flight. These two likely had some type of issue with each other that finally came to a crash course.

It is a bit odd that one is a freshman and one’s a senior, but maybe someone took the other guy’s favorite seat on the team plane or something like that.

It’s better for those distractions to be removed early in the season. The team can remain motivated and stay focused on basketball, making them even more dangerous on the court.

With all of the factors above considered, it’s time to take the Tigers seriously as national title contenders.

They already have the pieces in place and their intangibles are off the charts. In March, the kings of the jungle will rule the college basketball world, all thanks to two teammates fighting on a flight to Texas.

Nate Johns is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jzn5275@psu.edu.