After a tough home loss to Texas, Alabama basketball found itself in a pivotal early-season moment-and responded with exactly the kind of grit you want to see from a team with big March aspirations. The Crimson Tide went on the road and handled their business, picking up two crucial wins that helped stabilize their position in the SEC race.
Now, with a short breather before hosting Tennessee on Jan. 24, Alabama has a chance to reset and gear up for what’s shaping up to be one of the most demanding stretches of their season.
Let’s set the table: Florida’s win over Vanderbilt in Nashville has them looking like the team to beat in the SEC right now. The Gators and Texas A&M sit atop the standings at 4-1 in league play.
Alabama, meanwhile, is part of a seven-team logjam at 3-2-a group that includes Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Auburn, Missouri, and Ole Miss. In other words, the race is tight, and the margin for error is razor-thin.
Starting with the Tennessee game, Alabama will play five games in just 15 days. That includes three matchups in a single week.
It’s a brutal stretch, and the road ahead isn’t exactly friendly. According to predictive models, Alabama is expected to drop two of those five contests-both road games, at Florida and Auburn.
That puts even more pressure on the three home games in that span-against Tennessee, Missouri, and Texas A&M. If the Tide want to stay in the hunt for the regular season SEC title, those are games they simply have to win.
Nate Oats and his squad know what’s at stake. The team’s recent performances, even in victory, haven’t exactly been dominant.
Yes, road wins in the SEC are never easy, and beating Mississippi State and Oklahoma on the road is nothing to scoff at. But in terms of building a résumé for NCAA Tournament seeding, those wins didn’t move the needle much.
Let’s look at the current NET rankings to get a clearer picture of where things stand in the conference:
- Vanderbilt (16-3, 3-2) - NET No. 13
- Florida (13-5, 4-1) - NET No. 15
- Alabama (13-5, 3-2) - NET No. 18
- Arkansas (13-5, 3-2) - NET No. 24
- Tennessee (12-6, 2-3) - NET No. 26
- Georgia (15-3, 3-2) - NET No. 27
- Kentucky (12-6, 3-2) - NET No. 28
- Auburn (11-7, 3-2) - NET No. 36
- Texas (11-7, 2-3) - NET No. 41
- Texas A&M (14-4, 4-1) - NET No. 42
- LSU (13-5, 1-4) - NET No. 48
- Missouri (13-5, 3-2) - NET No. 68
- Oklahoma (11-7, 1-4) - NET No. 69
- Ole Miss (11-7, 3-2) - NET No. 79
- South Carolina (10-8, 1-4) - NET No. 92
- Mississippi State (10-8, 2-3) - NET No. 95
That’s a crowded middle tier, and Alabama is right in the thick of it. The good news?
There’s plenty of opportunity ahead. The bad news?
There’s no room to coast. Every game matters, especially when you’re trying to climb the seeding ladder for March.
Looking ahead to the NCAA Tournament, Alabama is currently projected as a 4-seed in most mock brackets. That’s a solid spot to be in, but there’s room to climb.
A 3-seed is absolutely within reach, and if the Tide can string together a strong run over the next few weeks, even higher is possible. Last year, Alabama made it to the Elite Eight as a 4-seed.
Historically, 3-seeds make the Elite Eight about 25.6% of the time, compared to 15.6% for 4-seeds. That’s a meaningful difference when you’re talking about deep tournament runs.
The SEC probably won’t match last year’s massive haul of 14 NCAA Tournament teams, but it’s still shaping up to be one of the nation’s most competitive conferences. Ten teams getting in feels like the sweet spot, with a range of nine to eleven still on the table.
For Alabama, the mission is clear: stay healthy, sharpen up, and take care of business-especially at home. With a challenging slate ahead and the SEC standings as tight as they are, every possession, every stop, and every win is going to matter. The road to March is heating up, and the Crimson Tide are right in the middle of it.