Alabama Basketball: Latest brackets and buzz on the Crimson Tide

Check out the latest NCAA brackets predictions for Alabama basketball and some recent buzz about the team and Avery Johnson.

Alabama basketball has another must-win game Saturday in Tuscaloosa against the Vanderbilt Commodores. The Dores are winless in the SEC at 0-13, 9-17 overall and 1-8 on the road. They have lost 14 straight games. It should be an easy win for the Tide but at this point, nothing should be taken for granted.

Avery Johnson’s Alabama basketball team clings to hope for a NCAA bid, while rumors swirl about the program. More on those rumors at the end of this post, but first the latest bracketology news.

Most fans are content to follow Joe Lunardi and Jerry Palm. Both are good, but there are at least several other as credible, and sometimes more credible prognosticators.

A great summary source to follow is bracketmatrix.com that lists over 100 bracketologists. The most current Matrix has Alabama as a No. 12 seed in 90 of 115 brackets submitted.

Another interesting source is teamrankings.com. Based on their S-curve calculation, Alabama basketball has a 28 percent chance of a NCAA bid.  That S-curve indicates the Crimson Tide is the tenth team out of the currently projected NCAA field.

Three other bracketologists whose recent track record is comparable to Lunardi and Palm have mixed opinions of the Tide’s chances. Bracketville has the Tide as a 12 seed (on 2/21) with a play-in game against Temple. The site projects the Tide as the fourth of the ‘Last Four In.’

From the same date, Delphi Bracketology, also has the Crimson Tide as a 12-seed. 1-3-1 Sports in its 2/22 bracket has the Tide as the second team in the ‘First Four Out.’

Joe Lunardi is sticking with the Tide as a 12-seed and the third of his ‘Last Four In.’ Jerry Palm has the Tide as the fourth team in his ‘Last Four Out.’

The Alabama Crimson Tide has a current NCAA Net ranking of 51. The top 40 teams in the Net Rankings are not 100 percent locks but they are close to it. Vandy has a Net Ranking of 132 so a Saturday win will do little to improve the Tide’s NCAA chances.

Rumors abound. They are mostly about Avery’s Alabama basketball future. We find nothing credible enough to discuss here.

There is troubling buzz that some team members are far from buckled in with some future transfers possible. Our opinion from the outside is Avery coaches his players much the same way NBA players are coached. That approach leaves less time for concentrating on fundamentals. It is arguably also too player-friendly for a team that has such frequent lapses in on-court discipline.

The Vandy game will be interesting. A win is a must, but as important will be the Tide’s defensive effort throughout the game.