It’s amazing to see the how teams can determine the outcome of their seasons over the course of a few games. Two weeks ago, it looked as if Alabama would need a miracle to make it into the NCAA tournament. After getting shellacked by LSU and Florida, it seemed the Tide would have to finish the season undefeated – something they still have to do, by the way.
What’s even better is Alabama is past the meat of that five-game stretch, with wins against quality opponents in Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi State. Even more impressive was the dominant fashion in which Alabama beat those opponents. Alabama beat the Volunteers and Razorbacks by 12 and 11 points, respectively. Alabama also avenged an earlier loss against the Bulldogs by whipping them in Tuscaloosa by 17. A beat down over rival Auburn sets the Tide up for one last easy win against the Ole Miss Rebels. Well, I’m here to say that not only can Alabama not take that game for granted, but it is also paramount Alabama get a win against Ole Miss. Nothing has changed for Alabama. Its goal is still to go undefeated in what is essentially a five-game, all-or-nothing season, and have a great showing in the SEC tournament to bolster its tournament résumé as much as possible. A loss to Ole Miss would be a huge blow to that goal. For one, Ole Miss isn’t even a top-50 team in the RPI. Despite a 17-12 record, the Rebels are ranked 69th overall and seventh in the SEC. A loss to a team like that, to a team that Alabama has already beaten, would be devastating. Still, the pressure from trying to avoid a bad loss isn’t the only thing that should worry the Tide. Remember, this is the same team Alabama needed two overtimes to beat in Tuscaloosa by a measly two points. It’s reasonably safe to assume the Rebel home crowd will try to make it a lot more difficult for the Tide to play in Oxford, Miss. Ole Miss is coming off some impressive wins of its own, as well. Ole Miss stopped LSU’s four-game win streak (which started with Alabama), and took down Arkansas in its home court, where the Razorbacks have only lost three games this season. This is a team Alabama can’t afford to overlook. Head coach Anthony Grant has said the only things he wants his team to worry about are the things they can control. For Alabama, beating Ole Miss falls right in line with that. Alabama shouldn’t put its fate in the hands of others when it could clench Grant’s first tournament appearance at Alabama. Alabama put its hands in the fate of the voters last year when it just barely missed entering the tournament with a 21-11 overall record and 12-14 record in the SEC. That record is dangerously close to the one Alabama has right now. Since Alabama’s last loss to Florida, it has done everything right in getting big wins over quality opponents and putting itself in a great position to finally enter March Madness. For Grant and company, it all comes down to this next game against the Rebels. They can’t get caught up in their own success: They have to keep focus on that one final hurdle between what could be a successful season or a miserable failure. Like I said, it’s amazing to see how a few games can affect a team’s season. It’s even crazier to see how seasons can be determined by the outcome of a single game.
