Alabama Basketball: Feb. 2 – NCAA ‘Bracket Watch’ and SEC stretch run

Check out where Alabama basketball stands in projected NCAA Brackets, plus the challenge of seven more regular season games against potential NCAA tourney teams.

Before Wednesday night’s loss to Missouri, Alabama basketball was solidly in projected NCAA Tournament fields. Although Missouri went into the contest with a 46 RPI, the Tigers had lost three straight games. Technically it does not meet the standard of a bad loss for the Tide. It was a wasted opportunity with wins hard to achieve in a very tough late-season schedule.

There are so many teams to evaluate, the NCAA Selection committee cannot eye-ball games like the CFB Selection committee does. Hopefully, few watched the Tide’s performance in the Missouri loss. It was an ugly game. In the game’s last four minutes, the Tigers scored four points, yet still won by nine. In those last four minutes, Alabama basketball, playing at home, scored two points.

Alabama basketball has nine remaining regular season games, plus SEC tournament games. The NCAA Selection committee chooses teams based on several key factors. One significant factor is a team’s most recent games.

In the remaining nine SEC games, the Tide has seven games against currently projected NCAA teams. A 5-4 run and 1-1 in the SEC tournament should be enough. Even 4-5 and 1-1 might be enough to sneak in at a No. 11 or No. 12 seed. Anything less and the Tide may again miss out on the NCAA tourney.

A closer look at current bracket projections

ESPN’s Joe Lunardi held the Tide as a No. 9 seed despite the Missouri loss. Lunardi has seven SEC teams in the NCAA field, with two more SEC schools as Bubble teams.

• No. 2 Seed – Auburn
• No. 4 Seed – Tennessee
• No. 5 Seed – Kentucky
• No. 6 Seed – Florida
• No. 9 Seed – Alabama
• No. 9 Seed – Arkansas
• No. 10 Seed – Texas A&M
• First Four Out – Missouri and Georgia

Jerry Palm moved the Tide down from a nine to an 11 seed after the Missouri loss.

Palm has eight SEC teams in the NCAA field and one SEC Bubble team.

• No. 2 Seed – Auburn
• No. 3 Seed – Tennessee
• No. 4 Seed – Kentucky
• No. 6 Seed – Florida
• No. 7 Seed – Arkansas
• No. 9 Seed – Missouri
• No. 11 Seed – Alabama
• No. 11 Seed – Texas A&M
• First Four Out – Georgia

Teamrankings.com also moved the Tide to a No. 11 seed. The projected probability for the Tide making the NCAA Tournament field dropped from 72 percent to 63 percent.

Finishing 5-4 in the regular season

Alabama basketball has a tough closing run in SEC regular season play. Gaining five wins will be difficult. Take a closer look at the nine games and the current RPI for each team from live-rpi.com.

Feb. 3rd – Florida in Gainsville; RPI – 41
Feb. 6th – Mississippi in Starkville; RPI – 61
Feb. 10th – Tennessee in Tuscaloosa; RPI – 12
Feb. 13th – LSU in Tuscaloosa; RPI – 82
Feb. 17th – Kentucky in Lexington; RPI – 13
Feb. 21st – Auburn in Auburn; RPI – 7
Feb. 24th – Arkansas in Tuscaloosa; RPI – 28
Feb. 27th – Florida in Tuscaloosa; RPI – 41
Mar. 3rd – Texas A&M in College Station; RPI – 30

The current RPI for Alabama basketball is 40.

The young Tide team got a wakeup call against Missouri. In some ways, it was a trap game, following the big Oklahoma win. There cannot be any more lapses.

Next: 2018 Alabama Softball Preview

After the trip to Gainesville, the Tide travels to Starkville on Tuesday night. Both games will be tough and the Tide needs at least a split.