Nate Oats and Alabama basketball players Amari Allen, Brandon Garrison, and Drew Fielder will be in Birmingham starting tomorrow for the annual SEC Tip-Off.
Ahead of that event, the media released their projections for the conference order of finish, along with All-conference teams and the SEC Player of the Year.
Alabama was projected to finish 5th in the SEC, with Allen the lone representative on the three All-SEC teams. He was picked for the 2nd team. Florida's Thomas Haugh was voted preseason SEC Player of the Year.
Florida, Texas, Arkansas, and Tennessee were the four teams picked ahead of the Crimson Tide. The projected order of finish is as follows:
- Florida
- Texas
- Arkansas
- Tennessee
- Alabama
- Vanderbilt
- Kentucky
- Missouri
- Auburn
- Texas A&M
- Georgia
- Oklahoma
- Ole Miss
- LSU
- Mississippi State
- South Carolina
History is on Alabama's side with preseason projection
In Oats' previous seven seasons as the Alabama head coach, the Crimson Tide has been picked to finish 5th in the league three times. Two of the three times, Alabama won the SEC regular season and tournament titles. The other time, Alabama finished tied for 2nd:
Alabama basketball's predicted finish in the SEC every year under Nate Oats:
— Blake Byler (@blakebyler45) October 12, 2026
2019-20: 6th (actual: 9th)
2020-21: 5th (1st)
2021-22: 2nd (T-5th)
2022-23: 5th (1st)
2023-24: 5th (T-2nd)
2024-25: 1st (3rd)
2025-26: 4th (T-2nd)
2026-27: 5th (?)
Alabama was picked to finish 5th in 2020-21, coming off a 9th-place finish in Oats' first season. Led by SEC Player of the Year Herb Jones, the Crimson Tide won the league in the regular season and captured the tournament title before being ousted by UCLA in the Sweet 16 of March Madness.
Two years later, Alabama was picked to finish 5th ahead of the 2022-23 season, but led by SEC Player of the Year - and No. 2 overall NBA Draft pick - Brandon Miller, the Crimson Tide won another SEC double before again falling in the Sweet 16 to San Diego State in an NCAA Tournament upset. Alabama entered the Big Dance as the No. 1 overall seed for the first time in program history.
Alabama is now three full seasons removed from its last SEC Championship, something Oats would undoubtedly like to fix.
He looks like he has a team capable of doing it. KenPom certainly thinks so, ranking the Tide No. 9 in his preseason projections.
Even without Aden Holloway in the first exhibition game, Alabama's offense didn't skip a beat, putting up an impressive 111 points on Furman in an 18-point win.
Alabama solved its size issues from last season and enters the year with only two projected rotational pieces - Holloway and freshman Anderson Diaz - listed under 6-foot-6. Alabama added significant pieces to its frontcourt in an effort to avoid getting bullied by teams like Florida.
We'll see how it turns out, but there's plenty of optimism surrounding the program heading into the season. The projected order of finish from the media is just another potentially good omen working in Oats' favor.
Add us as a preferred source on Google