It’s the biggest sporting event of the year for the state of Alabama, and anything can happen.

As always, emotions will be running high for both teams as the No. 2 Tide travels the 160 miles to Auburn for the Iron Bowl. Controlling these emotions will be important for both sides.

And if you think it’s just the players and coaching staffs that get wrapped up in the hatred, I implore you to recall the poisoned trees incident.

Here are the biggest questions going into this Week 13 matchup.

1. Can Alabama win the red zone battle? This season Auburn has been better than Alabama in the red zone on both sides of the ball. Unfortunately for the Tide, its red zone defense is the third worst in the SEC, and it will be going up against the best red zone offense in the SEC. If Alabama allows the Tigers to get inside the 20, they have an 89 percent chance to score on the Tide.

Only 12 of Auburn’s 40 scores from the red zone have been field goals, so it could get ugly fast for Alabama. Tide defenders like DL A’Shawn Robinson, LB Reggie Ragland and LB Reuben Foster will be huge factors in Alabama’s success or failure in the red zone.

2. Will Auburn find a winning quarterback? Auburn plans on playing both QB Jeremy Johnson and QB Sean White against Alabama. Neither is an appealing prospect for the Tigers. White is still nursing a knee injury he suffered against Arkansas in October, and though he tried playing through it, he wasn’t productive. Johnson has been starting in his place, but it looks White is healthy enough to play this weekend.

Both quarterbacks are hovering around a 60 percent completion rate, and they’ve thrown for a combined 9 TDs and 9 INTs. It’s got to be better on the ground, right? Wrong. Johnson averages just over three yards per carry and has 5 TDs on the season, while White has barely cracked one yard per carry and hasn’t run one into the end zone all season.

And in case you didn’t know, the Tide is currently No. 3 in the nation in sacks, so if either quarterback is going to survive, the Tigers offensive line will need to be ready to stand strong against the Alabama pass rush.

3. Will it be the Tide or the Tigers special teams that make a statement? Alabama is No. 13 in the nation in punt returns, with 32 returns for 457 yards and 4 TDs. This success is thanks mostly to CB Cyrus Jones, who alone is responsible is 28 returns for 403 yards and 3 TDs. Auburn is sporting the third worst punt return defense in FBS, so it will need to reel it in here to keep from getting run over by Jones.

On the other hand, Auburn is No. 5 in the nation in kickoff returns with 32 returns for 897 yards. The bulk of these belong to DB Johnathan Ford (14 returns, 402 yards) and RB Kerryon Johnson (13 returns, 360 yards). What the Tigers don’t have is a touchdown on a kickoff return, and the Tide hasn’t allowed one on kickoff all season.

There are a lot of questions as we head into the 2015 Iron Bowl, but these three seem to be the most pressing.