Since she arrived at Auburn in 2004, Nell Fortner has found the time to take in a number of games at Jordan-Hare Stadium.

Her credentials, of course, allow her down on the sidelines, and she’s taken full advantage of the access. But no matter how many games she watched, even during the down 2008 season, the overwhelming presence of 87,000 screaming fans would leave Fortner in a state of admiration.

“I’m like ‘Holy Cow!’” Fortner said. “I can’t imagine what’d it be like to be a football player playing in front of that.”

Awe, though, wasn’t the fifth-year Auburn women’s basketball coach’s only reaction. The wheels in Fortner’s head would churn with every roar and every “Bodda Getta.”

“I would think, we could do that in the Coliseum,” Fortner said. “If we could just take that part of the student section right here and say ‘Get on over to the Coliseum,’ it’d be awesome.”

The groundwork laid for what will undoubtedly be the largest crowd in Auburn women’s basketball history, when the undefeated Tigers host No. 10
Tennessee today, is a bit more complex than Fortner’s people-moving scheme. But only just a bit, Fortner said.

Just win, baby, and the people will come.

“Obviously people like to see teams that win, there’s no doubt about it,” Fortner said. “It just motivates you to keep doing that, that’s for sure.”

Yes, the Tigers have won before. Plenty, actually, especially under 25-year coach Joe Ciampi, whose teams made 16 NCAA tournaments, including six trips to the Elite Eight and three appearances in the National Championship game.

But only twice did Ciampi’s teams string together runs like Auburn’s current 19-0 start to the season. The peak of popularity was reached in 1989 when, in the midst of an undefeated stretch that would reach a school-record 28 games, Auburn hosted and beat Tennessee in front of 7,150 fans —
the current record.

That record will all but certainly be wiped away after today, as more than 6,000 tickets were pre-sold as of Friday.

“You’ve got your diehards that are going to be there with you no matter what,” Fortner said. “But when you win, you’re going to have a lot more diehards.”

The key in gauging whether or not the popularity is here to stay will be determined after Tennessee skips town.

Legendary Tennessee coach Pat Summitt has helped establish a travelling fanbase in her 35 years with the program. That presence away from Knoxville has helped pad attendance numbers all throughout the SEC.

Five of Auburn’s top 10 attendance records, including three in the top five, are games against the Lady Vols.

But if the showing at Auburn’s past two games is an indication of things to come, the Tigers could be in store for more curtain-free games.

Predominantly viewed by families and Auburn area residents in the past, the Tigers played in front of 1,204 students two weeks ago against Florida and 1,625 Thursday against Alabama.

“It’s exciting to see people excited about women’s basketball at Auburn and coming out and supporting it,” Fortner said. “I always believed that this would happen and it’s something we’ll work hard to maintain.“

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No. 6 Auburn (19-0, 4-0 SEC) vs. Tennessee (15-3, 4-1)
Where: Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum
When: 2 p.m.
TV/Radio: CSS (Channel 35)/WXMA 96.7 FM
This and that: Tennessee leads the all-time series 32-8 and has won the past 16 meetings and 24 of the last 25. Auburn’s last victory came in 1997 at the SEC Tournament semifinals. The last time Auburn won at home against the Lady Vols was 1991 … Tennessee coach Pat Summitt will be seeking her 999th all-time victory … Former Auburn assistant Daedra Charles-Furlow will make her first return trip to Auburn today. Charles-Furlow, a Tennessee alum, signed on with Summitt before the season … Auburn’s 19-game winning streak is tied for the longest active winning
streak in the country in either men’s or women’s college basketball … Auburn is 6-4 when facing the 10th-ranked team in the Associated Press poll.
Projected starters Auburn: F Trevesha Jackson (7.1 ppg, 5.0 rpg), F/G DeWanna Bonner (20.2 ppg, 8.6 rpg), G Sherell Hobbs (12.7 ppg, 4.7 rpg), G Alli Smalley (12.6 ppg, 2.3 apg), G Whitney Boddie (10.0 ppg, 8.1 apg)
Projected starters Tennessee: C Alex Fuller (6.8 ppg, 5.8 rpg), F Glory Johnson (12.0 ppg, 7.2 rpg), F Shekinna Stricklen (13.4 ppg, 5.9 rpg), G Briana Bass (4.9 ppg, 1.6 rpg), G Angie Bjorklund (12.5 ppg, 2.0 apg)