Alabama Basketball: Latest Crimson Tide Bracketology

Less than two weeks away is when Alabama basketball fans learn the Crimson Tide’s NCAA Tournament seeding. Currently projected as the No. 1 seed overall, it is next to impossible for the Crimson Tide to drop to a 2-seed, even with a string of three losses in the regular season and in an opening SEC Tournament game.

Based on the opinions of most NCAA Tournament bracket experts, the SEC has a chance to get eight teams into the Big Dance. Going into the last week of the SEC regular season, there are only two SEC ‘Bubble’ teams, the Auburn Tigers and even more so, the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

The Team Rankings algorithm projects the SEC will get 10.2 wins in the NCAA Tournament. That roughly translates to only five SEC teams advancing past the opening round. The only conference projected to get more Big Dance wins is the Big 12, with 11.

Based upon two sources; Jerry Palm and 1-3-1 Sports, Big Dance projections for SEC teams are mostly consistent.

• Alabama Crimson Tide – Overall No. 1 seed; per Palm and 1-3-1, the Tide will open with the winner of FDU vs. Morehead State and get the winner of Iowa and North Carolina State in the second round. 1-3-1 has the Crimson Tide, opening with the winner of FDU vs. Alcorn State and the winner of Iowa vs. Florida Atlantic in the second round.
• Tennessee Vols; 3-seed (1-3-1) and 4-seed (Palm)
• Missouri Tigers; 6-seed (Palm) and 9-seed (1-3-1)
• Texas A&M Aggies; 7-seed by both Bracketologists
• Kentucky Wildcats; 7-seed by both Bracketologists
• Arkansas Razorbacks; 8-seed (1-3-1) and 9-seed (Palm)
• Auburn Tigers; 10 seed by both Bracketologists
• Mississippi State Bulldogs; 11-seed by both Bracketologists

Alabama Basketball and other SEC teams by Big Dance Region (per Palm)

• South Region – Alabama, Mississippi State and Auburn
• East Region – Tennessee and Kentucky
• Midwest Region – Texas A&M and Arkansas
• West Region – Missouri

Alabama basketball fans who are unfamiliar with 1-3-1 Sports may doubt the site’s accuracy. Based on the rankings of almost 150 Bracketologists, as calculated by The Bracket Project, 1-3-1 is No. 5, when comparing results from the last five NCAA Tournaments.

Bracketology is science-ish, with a wide range of success from average to pretty darn good. No one source is considerably better than the others.

How far will Alabama Basketball advance in the Big Dance? The best odds, as calculated by Team Rankings are given to the Crimson Tide and Houston. Both are given an almost 40% chance of making the Final Four and around 25% to win the NCAA Tournament Championship.