Alabama Basketball and rest of SEC heading into conference play

The Alabama Basketball pre-conference portion of the 2021-22 season ended with a 9-3 record. From a high of taking down Gonzaga and Houston in a span of a week, the once No. 6, AP-ranked Crimson Tide slumped. From an 8-1 record after the Houston win, the Tide has now lost two of its last three games.

Life on the hardwood will not get any easier for Alabama Basketball. Tennessee, with a recent win over then-ranked, No. 6, Arizona comes to Tuscaloosa on Dec. 29. After the Vols, the Tide has Florida and Missouri away and Auburn in Tuscaloosa. Missouri is having a tough season, but the other three, tough upcoming contests will quickly show if the Tide’s early success can be replicated in SEC play.

It will be another rough SEC season, with as many as 10 SEC teams improved from last season. A summary of the league’s other 13 SEC teams follows. After the summary, a ranking of teams, based on current records, is included. The summaries below are listed in order of current win-loss records.

LSU Bengal Tigers; 12-0

Will Wade’s undefeated team has played an easy schedule. Their best wins are 83-53 over Belmont in Baton Rouge and 75-61 over Wake Forest at a neutral site. LSU opens the SEC on the road against Auburn.

Auburn Tigers; 11-1

Auburn has not had a particularly difficult schedule either. Their best wins are 62-53 over Loyola-Chicago at a neutral site and 85-68 over UCF at home. Auburn’s single loss was to U Conn, in overtime, on a neutral court. Next for the Tigers is LSU in Auburn.