No. 19 Alabama is set to participate in the SEC Tournament in Greenville, South Carolina.
The tournament will be held from Wednesday to Sunday, but since the Crimson Tide will be the No. 6 seed in the bracket, the team has a bye and will not play until Thursday.
Alabama is ranked in the AP poll for the first time under head coach Kristy Curry’s tenure and held its spot up to the end of the regular season. The team’s 23-7 record marks the most wins the Crimson Tide has had in the regular season in 31 years.
The team will first be in action on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. CT, facing Florida. The matchup appears favorable for Alabama, as the team combined to go 2-0 against the Gators in the regular season.
The Crimson Tide faced the Gators twice in the regular season. On Jan. 2, Alabama beat them 79-69 in Coleman Coliseum despite leading scorer Sarah Ashlee Barker getting hurt midway through the game. A month later, the Crimson Tide — led by guard Aaliyah Nye, who made a career-high nine 3-pointers — defeated the Gators 84-66 in Gainesville.
Assuming the team takes care of business, next up would be a not-as-easy matchup against No. 9 LSU, which earned a double-bye due to being the No. 3 seed in the SEC.
But this matchup doesn’t appear as favorable to LSU as one might think. Just a week ago, the Tigers lost to Alabama in what Curry called a “boxing match” and then lost at home to Ole Miss on Sunday.
LSU will also be without star guard and leading scorer Flau’Jae Johnson for the tourney. Tigers head coach Kim Mulkey shut her down for the week due to inflammation of her right shin. Johnson has averaged 18.9 points per game for the Tigers this season.
It’s not certain whom the Crimson Tide would play next if the team was able to advance past the Tigers. The favorite would be the No. 1 Texas Longhorns, who went 29-2 in the regular season but lost a coin flip to South Carolina for the first seed in the SEC Tournament and now sit at No. 2 in the bracket.
This wouldn’t be a great matchup for the Crimson Tide, as the team lost by 44 against the Longhorns two months ago. However, that was without Barker, and Alabama is playing better basketball overall right now.
Alabama’s NCAA Tournament seeding also has heavy implications. The team currently ranks as the No. 4 seed in ESPN’s bracketology, meaning it would play at home for its first two games.
Two wins in the SEC Tournament would certainly be enough for the Crimson Tide to host, and winning just one game will likely be enough to hold the No. 4 seed; however, being a one-and-done could have heavy seeding implications and knock the team out of a top-4 spot.
Alabama will begin tournament play on Thursday against Florida at 7:30 p.m. CT. The game can be watched on ESPN.
