The first step toward pulling an upset, even at home, is belief. That’s exactly what Auburn had entering the Iron Bowl, something QB Bo Nix said is part of the culture on The Plains.

“It’s just a culture thing,” Nix said in a story by Tom Green on AL.com. “I feel like Auburn and just a few other teams, we’re the only ones that can consistently play with them. That’s something to be said for this school. It’s a mindset going in. It’s a rivalry. We just come to play every time we play them.”

Coach Gus Malzahn admitted after the win on Saturday that, “Going into this game, we felt like we had the better team.”

Green pointed out that since the start of the 2013 season, Alabama is 88-10, winning 89.8 percent of its games, with 30 percent of those losses coming at the hands of Auburn. Only Auburn has 3 wins in that span, while only 2 other teams, Clemson and Ole Miss, have even multiple wins. Kansas’ Les Miles and Malzahn are the only active coaches with 3 wins over Saban.

“You know, he’s a great coach,” Malzahn said of Saban. “Everybody knows that, but this is Auburn and they’re Alabama. This is the best rivalry in college football. It’s not about me. It’s about our players. Our players believe they can beat them. All the other teams for the most part hope.”