Alabama Basketball: Breaking Down the 2012-13 Schedule

While the focus of the Alabama fan base stays locked on the football team’s Sept. 1 battle with Michigan, the Alabama basketball program continues to make strides towards its season, recently releasing its schedule for the 2012-2013 season.

I joined forces with Nick Jones and Chris Dodson to break down the upcoming schedule, and here’s what we came up with.

Key Nonconference Games

Nov 15 & 16 at the 2K Sports Classic.  Alabama will face a tough test early in New York City. The Tide will travel to Madison Square Garden to play in the 2K Sports Classic where Oregon State, Purdue and Villanova will join them for this season-opening tournament.

Purdue and Villanova are two teams that jump out at me from that list: two traditional basketball programs from big-time basketball conferences. Purdue finished last year with a 63-60 loss to the No. 2 seeded Kansas Jayhawks in the NCAA Tournament. The Boilermakers return many players from that team, but did lose star forward Robbie Hummel who averaged 16.4 points and 7.2 rebounds per game last year. With the Tide’s only experienced returning post player coming in sophomore Nick Jacobs, both teams have holes to fill and have to fill them quickly.

Villanova is not the Wildcats of old, but they are still a very scrappy and physical team inside. The Wildcats averaged 39.1 rebounds per game as a team, which ranked 16th in the nation. But their offense struggled for most of the year. I’m sure the Tide coaching staff will take note of that. With only one returning senior and a struggling offense, the Wildcats will have issues against Anthony Grant’s stingy defense. – Nick Jones

Dec. 1 at Cincinnati.  The Tide will likely get a chance to rest up and fully prepare for this game, playing tune-up games at home versus Charleston Southern and Lamar in between the 2K Sports Classic and this match-up. The Bearcats will attempt to perform the same feat as the Tide, in trying to win its first SEC/Big East Challenge game without a key post player. As the Tide are coping with the loss of forward JaMychal Green, the Bearcats will be without forward Yancy Gates, who is the only player to ever lead Cincinnati in rebounding for four straight seasons.

In last year’s SEC/Big East Challenge game at home against Georgetown, Alabama was barely good enough to keep it close against a Georgetown team that was in a letdown season for that program’s standards. This season, going on the road to a team that was loaded with young talent last year, I feel confident the Bearcats will be favored in this game.

P.S. Useless Fact of the Day: Moussa Gueye (Alabama) and Cheikh Mbodj (Cincinnati) are both from Dakar, Senegal. No word on if the two ever played with or against each other before they moved from Africa to the United States. – Brett Hudson

Dec. 5 vs. Dayton.  The Crimson Tide traveled to Dayton in 2011 as the No. 16 team in the nation riding high on early success. The Flyers proved to be a much bigger test than many expected, earning a win in convincing fashion over the Tide, 74-62. The Flyers return their top two scorers including senior forward Chris Johnson. Did the long road trip to Dayton play a role in last year’s lost for the Tide? Possibly. Good news, the Flyers will make that trip in 2012. Dayton isn’t a flashy team, but if you let them stick around, watch out. – Nick Jones

Jan. 5 vs. Oakland.  Last year, Alabama gave Oakland a sound 74-57 beating in Tuscaloosa, which spoke volumes to the dedicated basketball fan. While the name may not jump off the page, Oakland has been to four consecutive postseasons, one of which has the Golden Grizzlies getting a NCAA tournament win. Alabama has not had such a streak since 2003-2007.

What makes this game more interesting than last year’s is that this time, Oakland will not be facing Alabama in its first regular season game of the season. The Golden Grizzlies will now have time to shake off the rust and bring to Tuscaloosa a fully prepared team. Add in two big-time transfer students coming to Oakland this season, one form West Virginia and the other from Dayton (who knows a thing or two about beating Alabama), and this game will be quite the test for the Tide. – Brett Hudson

Overall

This nonconference schedule has plenty of good games that could prove to be challenging for the Tide. Alabama’s game at Cincinnati is one of the bigger opponents that caught my attention immediately, The Bearcats made the Sweet 16 last year and made some noise last season, so this road trip could be a make or break the Tide’s NCAA resume. Another game that sticks out is the game with either Villanova or Purdue in the 2K Sports Classic. Either one of those opponents are an immediate draw and an opportunity to boost that RPI. The hardest stretch could be in early December, where Bama faces Cincinnati and then have games against VCU and Dayton. Overall, Alabama’s non-conference schedule looks good if they can capitalize on the big games. – Chris Dodson

Key SEC Games

Jan. 8 at Missouri.  Alabama kicks off Southeastern Conference play with a very interesting matchup, as the Tide travel to Columbia, Mo., to face Frank Haith and the Missouri Tigers. Missouri ended the season with a crushing upset at the hand of 15-seed Northfolk State in the NCAA Tournament. Missouri will be looking to make a big splash to start SEC play. The Tigers return their top two scorers including senior guard Marcus Denmon. Denmon played a huge role for Missouri last year averaging 17.7 points per game. The Tigers are very experienced at guard, but that is the Crimson Tide’s strong point. It will be very interesting to see these two square off outside the perimeter. – Nick Jones

Jan. 22 vs. Kentucky.  Two years ago, Alabama pulled one of the biggest upsets of the regular season by downing the super-talented Wildcats in Coleman Coliseum on the way to a overachieving season.  Alabama will have the same task ahead of it this year in facing a team loaded with freshmen making their way to next year’s NBA draft. Alabama may be better off for the task this year than it was in 2010, upgrading the freshman point guard from 2010 to the now-junior Trevor Releford, who could challenge for the first-team All-SEC this year. Add in a group of battle-tested, talented young guys like Levi Randolph and Trevor Lacey and the Tide could shock the world again. – Brett Hudson

Jan. 26 at Tennessee.  The Tide has several road tests against Mississippi State, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Florida this season. Tennessee isn’t a team to sleep on, especially when you have to play them in Knoxville. Now that head coach Cuonzo Martin has a full year of head coaching experience at Tennessee under his belt after the dismissal of Bruce Pearl, the Volunteers are poised to make waves in the SEC this year. – Nick Jones

Mar. 5 at Ole Miss.  Ole Miss will definitely not be the most difficult road test the Tide has this season. The game before it, at Florida, may be though. This game against the Rebels in Oxford is the definition of a trap game. Coming off of a big game in Gainesville, going to another team’s arena and trying to rebound after a all-in affair is dangerous. See: 2012, at South Carolina. – Brett Hudson

Overall

Even with the new 18-game schedule, the Tide’s SEC slate looks tough, especially on the road. They do get Kentucky at home, but their road games include Vanderbilt, Florida and Tennessee. The hardest turnaround game? ‘Bama faces Arkansas and then, two days later gets on the road to fight with the ‘Dores of Vanderbilt. With Texas A&M and Missouri added into the conference, the men’s basketball scene in the SEC just got bigger. These two opponents will prove more difficult than most expect for the Tide. – Chris Dodson

Predictions

Brett Hudson: 21-10, 11-7 SEC. Alabama’s nonconference schedule fits the team perfectly this season: there are several games against teams like Texas Tech and Cincinnati that will help the team’s RPI but most of its games are likely to result in wins. When it comes to the SEC, there are certain games, like on the road against Missouri and at Florida, that look to be impossible tasks, but outside of select games like that the Tide should be able assert itself as a top-5 team in the SEC.

Nick Jones: 20-11, 11-7 SEC.  Anthony Grant still has a young team to work, several key positions to fill and a top recruit in Devonta Pollard. With that said, setting the tone early will be key for the Crimson Tide. Last season was marked by streaky play: winning and losing streaks, player suspensions and unreliable shooting from outside. If these young players can play together and a couple defined leaders emerge, Alabama could once again be in the hunt for an NCAA Tournament berth.

Chris Dodson: I see the Tide winning about 22 games this season. They are going to be favored in a lot of games if they keep their injuries and suspensions low, unlike what happened last year. This team is extremely talented and I would be surprised to see them go one and done in the NCAA tournament. Alabama will be definitely be one to watch out for.