Alabama Basketball: Crimson Tide’s five toughest SEC opponents
By Ronald Evans
Arkansas Razorbacks (25-8 last season) Lost to Baylor in Elite Eight
Arkansas had one of the SEC’s best players last season in freshman, Moses Moody. Moody is gone but another dynamic freshman returns for a sophomore season, Davonte Davis. Devo Davis is not expected to be an NBA first-rounder as was Moses. His skill set is very different. In a game now built around threes, Davis does not shoot many. He only shot 13, threes last season. Davis is a top defender and though his season scoring average was only 8.5 points per game, he scored 57 points in four NCAA Tournament games.
Eric Musselman brought in a scorer in 6’6″ Stanley Umude. Umude played four seasons at South Dakota and averaged 21.6 points last season. The Razorbacks have a couple of bigs that can have strong seasons. The best one is 6’10” Jaylin Williams who could become of the SEC’s impact players.
The greatest strength for Arkansas is a bench so deep, neither foul trouble nor fatigue should ever become an issue.
Picking the next pair of toughest Alabama Basketball opponents is not easy. Four teams were considered; LSU, Florida, Auburn and Mississippi State. Auburn and State edged out the Gators and the Bengal Tigers.