Last Saturday, Texas inflicted a disappointing home loss on Alabama Basketball. Wednesday night, the Longhorns made amends unintentionally. In a game that was tight until Texas finished on a 19-9 run, the Longhorns beat Vanderbilt 80-64. After four conference games, the SEC has five teams with one loss in SEC play and seven more teams with two losses.
On Saturday, either Vandy or Florida will get a second loss. If Texas does the Crimson Tide another favor and beats Texas A&M, and assuming Missouri beats woefully bad LSU and Arkansas beats Georgia, the SEC would have three one-loss teams. An Alabama win over Oklahoma would leave the Crimson Tide in a two-loss team bottleneck, but in contention for the regular-season title.
Alabama Basketball and SEC Teams NCAA NET Ranking
After Tuesday and Wednesday night's games, the SEC has 10 teams ranked in the NCAA NET Rankings, top 48 teams.
- Vanderbilt Commodores (16-1, 3-1) - NET Ranking No. 11
- Florida Gators (12-5, 3-1) - NET No. 16
- Alabama Crimson Tide (12-5, 2-2) - NET No. 18
- Arkansas Razorbacks (13-4, 3-1) - NET No. 23
- Tennessee Vols (12-5, 2-2) - NET No. 24
- Georgia Bulldogs (14-3, 2-2) - NET No. 33
- Kentucky Wildcats (11-6, 2-2) - NET No. 34
- Auburn Tigers (10-7, 1-3) - NET No. 37
- Texas Longhorns (11-6, 2-2) - NET No. 40
- Texas A&M Aggies (13-4, 3-1) - NET No. 48
The NET rankings for the other six SEC teams are LSU (No. 51), Missouri (No. 64), Oklahoma (No. 68), Ole Miss (No. 82), Mississippi State (No. 92), and South Carolina (No. 100). Indicative of what a competitive slog SEC basketball is are the Missouri Tigers at No. 64, with wins over Florida, Kentucky, and Auburn. Alabama Basketball plays Missouri on Jan. 27 in Tuscaloosa.
On Saturday, Alabama will play against two former Crimson Tide players. Derrion Reid and Mo Wague are starters for Oklahoma. The Sooners are led in scoring by a pair of smallish guards, Xzayvier Brown and Nijel Pack. Oklahoma is a slightly better shooting team than Alabama, while the Crimson Tide is better at the foul line. In scoring, the Crimson Tide is No. 2 among SEC teams, and the Sooners are No. 10.
Oklahoma began the SEC regular season by beating Ole Miss in Norman. The Sooners have lost three straight since, on the road to Mississippi State and Texas A&M, and to Florida at home. Given how badly OU needs to win, Alabama cannot afford any lapse in intensity. Taylor Bol Bowen is expected back for the Crimson Tide.
Note: Team statistical information provided by Sports Reference