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Alabama Basketball in post-NBA early entry deadline rankings

By Ronald Evans

(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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It is official, JD Davison, like Josh Primo, was the year before, is a one-and-done Alabama basketball player.

Apr. 24 was the deadline for NBA early entry and while the Crimson Tide lost a potentially great player, the Kentucky Wildcats held on to an already great player.

Kentucky big man and Naismith Trophy winner, Oscar Tshiebwe will be playing in Lexington again next season. Tshiebwe is so good he could be a repeat Naismith winner in 2023. John Calipari can and should next season’s Cats around this past season’s runaway choice as the SEC Player of the Year.

Now that some NBA dust has settled, CBS Sports has provided an updated ‘Top 25 and 1′ for the 2023 season. Nate Oats’ team made the latest rankings at No. 22. Five other SEC teams were preseason ranked above the Crimson Tide.

The full rankings are available below, but a quick summary is the SEC’s six teams are more than any other conference. The Big Ten is next with five teams in the rankings. The Big 12 follows with four teams, then four other conferences have two teams ranked; the ACC, Pac 12, Big East and Atlantic 10. The WCC, AAC and Mountain West are represented by one team each.

Nate Oats, as he did last season, has lined up multiple out-of-conference heavyweights. The Tide will travel to Houston and host Gonzaga in Birmingham. The Tide has tough early-season opportunities as well in the Phil Knight PH85 Tournament in Portland. North Carolina, Duke, Villanova, Michigan State and Purdue (all ranked by CBS) are in the 16-team field.

Should the Crimson Tide matchup with last season’s runner-up in Portland, it will mean Alabama will play five of the top six teams in the CBS Top 25 and 1.

With a typical pair of SEC games against Kentucky, plus the annual pair with Auburn, plus Arkansas, Tennessee and Texas A&M, the Crimson Tide’s 2022-23 season could include 12 games (or more) against teams in the CBS rankings.

Alabama Basketball and the other ranked teams

  1. North Carolina Tar Heels – ACC
  2. Kentucky Wildcats – SEC
  3. Baylor Bears – Big 12
  4. Houston Cougars – AAC
  5. Arkansas Razorbacks – SEC
  6. Gonzaga Bulldogs – WCC
  7. UCLA Bruins – Pac 12
  8. Kansas Jayhawks Big 12
  9. Duke Blue Devils -ACC
  10. TCU Horned Frogs -Big 12
  11. Tennessee Volunteers -SEC
  12. Arizona Wildcats – Pac 12
  13. Michigan Wolverines – Big Ten
  14. Auburn Tigers – SEC
  15. Creighton Bluejays – Big East
  16. Texas Longhorns – Big 12
  17. Villanova Wildcats – Big East
  18. Indiana Hoosiers – Big Ten
  19. Texas A&M Aggies -SEC
  20. Michigan State Spartans – Big Ten
  21. Colorado State Rams – Mountain West
  22. Alabama Crimson Tide – SEC
  23. Purdue Boilermakers – Big Ten
  24. Dayton Flyers – Atlantic 10
  25. Ohio State Buckeyes – Big Ten
  26. Saint Louis Billikens – Atlantic 10

Crimson Tide 5-Year NFL Draft Record. dark. Next

With so much roster transition, Alabama will have tough challenges early as Nate Oats learns his best roster combinations.

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