Alabama Basketball: Will ’22-23 Tide become one of Bama’s best teams?

Now that Alabama Basketball is ranked No. 2 in the AP and Coaches polls, and no lower than No. 3 and as high as No. 1 in the more important rankings (Pomeroy, BPI, KPI, Sagarin, NET, SOR) could the ’22-23 Tide become one of Alabama Basketball’s best ever teams?

So far, the answer to ‘could’ is yes. Will the ’22-23 Crimson Tide become one of the Tide’s best ever is a different question, and one it is too early to answer.

While the season plays itself out, Crimson Tide roundball fans can debate which Alabama team was the Tide’s best-ever. In a subjective assessment, there are six Alabama basketball teams deserving inclusion in such a conversation.

To be clear, trying to rank them is a challenge. Unlike Alabama Football, there are no National Championships to tally. The several trips to the NCAA Tournament, Sweet Sixteen have only yielded one Elite Eight berth and that season ended with a loss as well.

There are six Alabama Basketball teams reviewed below. Many may disagree, but the 2003-04 Elite Eight team is not included. Mark Gottfried’s team had a nice Big Dance run, but it lost 13 games that season and finished unranked in the polls.

The six teams are not ranked but listed chronologically, beginning with the earliest date of merit.

Alabama Basketball 1929-30 (20-0)

This team predates both the NIT and NCAA tournaments. Retroactively, it was named the National Champion by the little-known Premo-Perretta Power Poll. No National Championship banner hangs in any Crimson Tide rafters for the 1929-30 team.

It did win the Southern Conference Championship, getting four March wins in Atlanta, GA. In the conference tournament. The Crimson Tide beat Clemson, Georgia, Tennessee and Duke. The highest score Alabama had in the four games was 32 points against Tennessee.

Johnny Dee’s Rocket Eight 1955-56 (21-3)

The Crimson Tide had seven (or fewer, depending on the source)  games on campus in the ’55-56 season. The three losses came from two away games against North Carolina and St. John’s, plus a December tournament loss to Notre Dame in New Orleans.

The Tide played three games in Montgomery, including a walloping 101-77 win over Kentucky. Though Alabama was the undefeated SEC Champion, Kentucky was the only SEC team to go to the NCAA Tournament. Dee’s starters on the ’56 team all played on the varsity as freshmen, making them by NCAA rule ineligible players.

C.M. Newton 1975-76 (23-5)

Newton slowly built the Crimson Tide into a winner. His 1974 team was SEC Co-Champion with Vanderbilt. The 1975 team was Co-Champion with Kentucky. The ’75-76 team was the outright SEC Champion.

In a 32-team NCAA Tournament, Alabama blew out a strong North Carolina team in the first tournament game 79-64. Unluckily, the Tide’s next game was undefeated Indiana. Against the Hoosiers, the Crimson Tide led late, but lost 74-69. After finishing undefeated and winning the National Championship, Indiana coach Bobby Knight said Alabama was the best team the Hoosiers faced all season.

Wimp Sanderson 1986-87 (28-5)

Alabama won the SEC regular season championship and was the SEC Tournament Champion. After two wins in the NCAA Tournament, the Crimson Tide ran into a Rick Pitino-coached Providence team, given only a small chance of beating Alabama.

Providence, led by the three-point shooting of Billy ‘the Kid’ Donovan and Delray Brooks torched the Tide from outside the arc. The Friars shot shot 68.8% for the game, including making 14-of-22 threes, and won 103-82.

Wimp Sanderson 1989-90 (26-9)

The Crimson Tide won the SEC Tournament again in 1990, its third tournament championship in four seasons. Alabama woould win it again in 1991.

Two NCAA Tournament wins had the Crimson Tide riding high in the Sweet Sixteen. The high hopes came crashing down with a 62-60 loss to Loyola-Marymount.

Nate Oats 2020-21 (26-7)

Alabama basketball fans remember the season’s highlights well. The Crimson Tide earned the program’s third ‘Double’ with a 16-2, SEC regular season record and an SEC Tournament Championship via an exciting 80-79 win over LSU.

NCAA Tournament wins over Iona and Maryland took the Crimson Tide to the Sweet Sixteen. UCLA, the later National Championship runner-up, beat the Crimson Tide 88-78 in overtime.

Note: Historical records were sourced from RollTide.com and Sports Reference, and prior to 1975 are limited.

Compared to college basketball’s historically elite teams, Final Four appearances are a distant goal for the Crimson Tide. This, though, just might be the year, when big dreams become reality.