Riding the wave of a historic year, Alabama basketball is preparing for a daunting end of its schedule to close out the season.
As the Crimson Tide enjoys one of its most successful seasons in program history, fans have watched their team pull out wins against top teams like No. 6 Houston, No. 8 Texas A&M and No. 15 Kentucky.
While these wins have cemented Alabama as a top 5 team in the country, the greatest test lies ahead; head coach Nate Oats and his team will end the year with a six-game slate against ranked opponents, three of which will be on the road.
The team has suffered losses to No. 1 Auburn and No. 15 Missouri and taken a win vs now-No. 17 Kentucky to begin its end of season gauntlet. Alabama still has time to make a statement with ranked contests still to come against No. 21 Mississippi State, No. 6 Tennessee, No. 2 Florida and finally a rematch against Auburn.
After the loss to Auburn on Saturday, Oats set the tone for this stretch by comparing it to last year’s loss to Tennessee, after which the team dropped another 18-point loss to Florida.
“We’ve got to have better leadership this year,” Oats said. “We’re not in full control of our own destiny to win the league outright … so our mindset has to be better than it was last year after the home loss.”
One source of hope is the fact that one of these games, Tuesday’s against Mississippi State, will be a home rematch of a showdown the Crimson Tide already won on the road.
Alabama beat Mississippi State in an 88-84 nail-biter in January, doing so with nearly 50% 3-point shooting. The Bulldogs have struggled to beat top teams all year and have dropped six of their last 10 games, including a 27-point loss to Missouri last week.
The key to this rematch in Tuscaloosa will be Alabama’s ability to guard Mississippi State guard Josh Hubbard, whose explosive shooting night in the first matchup almost cost the Crimson Tide the game.
“[Hubbard] went for 38 points, so we have to do a better job,” Oats said “They are a tough team and have some of the toughest guys in the league in my opinion.”
Games versus Tennessee and Florida could prove challenging, and the first of those contests is on the road.
With the fourth-best scoring defense in the country and the lowest opponent 3-point percentage in the nation, Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes’s stringent defense will test an Alabama team that has already dealt with shooting inconsistencies this year.
The Gators, for their part, allow an average of only 66 points per game, and they too are elite in guarding the 3-ball. Their main weakness has been their own 3-point struggles this season, making them project as a somewhat equal matchup for Alabama.
The remaining schedule is bound to be tough, but fans can expect the team to be as focused as ever entering the twilight of the regular season.
“Wherever the voters want to put us, that doesn’t matter,” Oats said. “Let’s try to win an SEC regular season championship.”
