What Auburn players said about students camping out ahead of matchup with Florida

Few fanbases in college basketball have been able to match Auburn in recent years when it comes to passion and intensity.

There’s no better example than how Auburn students prepare for the Tigers' biggest home games, often camping out long before the Neville Arena doors open.

Preparations for this Saturday’s game against No. 6 Florida may be the most intense, as students began camping out Tuesday night during Auburn’s win over Oklahoma. As of Friday afternoon, the area now known as “Jungle Village” is filled with tents and students waiting to get into Saturday’s game.

Dylan Cardwell, a player known for his engagement with fans and the Auburn community, was the first player asked about the tents Friday afternoon, and he joked that “at some point we’ve got to draw a line and go to school."

"I’m a big fan of it; I love that Auburn basketball has gotten to this point. But let’s shower, brush some teeth, and go on canvas or something," Cardwell said with a smile. “We’re obviously skipping class; we’re obviously skipping school. So, I think there needs to be a virtual queuing or something.

“It’s a cool experience and I love it; I’m a huge fan of it. But I’m not a fan of it four days in advance. Let’s shorten, let’s have a two-day or a one-day thing, not all week long.”

Cardwell was also asked if he can feel an extra sense of anticipation for games that students camp out for.

“I want to say you can kind of feel that, especially the further out they camp,” Cardwell said. “This year the schedule is so jam-packed that we face a good team every game. For us, it’s nothing new internally or in the locker room.”

Saturday will be Miles Kelly’s first camping game experience at Auburn. A transfer from Georgia Tech, he didn’t experience that Kentucky or Alabama games of years past, but already has a feeling of what Neville Arena is like for a big game.

Kelly said he has visited Jungle Village since the camping started and added that “it’s everything that I wanted to experience in a fan base.”

The fanbase has given Auburn an advantage this season, as the Tigers are undefeated at home and have the best effective field goal percentage defense in the country in home games, according to barttorvik.com.

“I just think 99% of that is The Jungle. It’s like having a sixth defender out there,” Kelly said. “One of my best friends, Jalon Moore — he plays for Oklahoma — I talked to him after the game, and he was just like, ‘Man, the atmosphere is crazy.’ He could barely hear the play calls."

Auburn’s matchup with No. 6 Florida is scheduled to tip off at 3 p.m. Saturday and will be streaming live on ESPN2.

Peter Rauterkus covers Auburn sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @peter_rauterkus or email him at prauterkus@al.com