Alabama basketball goes on the road for the first time in SEC play on Wednesday night to battle the South Carolina Gamecocks. Alabama opened SEC play this past Saturday with a dominating home win over the previously unbeaten Oklahoma Sooners. The Gamecocks suffered a 35-point road loss to Mississippi State in their SEC opener.
South Carolina is the lowest-rated SEC team in KenPom at No. 73, but the Gamecocks are more than capable of beating good teams, especially at home. In non-conference play, South Carolina knocked off Clemson in Columbia. The Tigers made the Elite 8 last season and are currently ranked No. 34 in KenPom.
This is not a gimme game by any stretch of the imagination. No road games in SEC play will be. Just ask Kentucky. The Wildcats went to Athens on Tuesday night and suffered a 13-point loss to Georgia despite being favored.
I'm a bit surprised that any SEC team would be a double-digit road favorite, but according to FanDuel, the Crimson Tide is a 10.5-point favorite over South Carolina.
Alabama has the better team, but playing on the road is never easy in college basketball. The Crimson Tide's close win over North Dakota in non-conference play is a perfect example of that. Alabama was favored by 20+ points in that game and narrowly escaped with a win over a much worse opponent than they will see on Wednesday night in Columbia.
KenPom gives Alabama a 76% chance of beating South Carolina and projects an 83-75 Tide win, closer than what FanDuel lists the spread.
Nate Oats understands that if Alabama wants to compete for an SEC Championship, these are games you have to win. You have to take care of business at home, first and foremost, but you have to beat the teams you are clearly better than on the road. Beating the really good teams in the SEC on the road this season will be a tall task; look at what Florida did to previously unbeaten Tennessee on Tuesday night as an example of that.
The Gators rolled the Volunteers by 30 points. Alabama will face Texas A&M in College Station on Saturday, a game that will be difficult to win. A loss to South Carolina could mean the Crimson Tide are staring a 1-2 start to SEC play right in the face, digging themselves an early hole that might be impossible to overcome.