Alabama might take over as the new AP No. 1 team in college basketball on Monday. Auburn might also hold on to the No. 1 spot despite losing at home to a really good Florida team. Whether it's the Crimson Tide or the Tigers at the top of the AP Poll on Monday means nothing.
Where you are ranked on February 10th is meaningless. In today's college basketball, AP rankings mean nothing outside of there being a better-looking number next to your name on television. They don't hand out trophies and you don't hang banners because of where you are ranked in February.
Nate Oats understands that. He was asked about the prospect of Alabama rising to No. 1 in the rankings in the aftermath of his team's 85-81 win over Arkansas in Fayetteville on Saturday night.
"I don't really care, to be honest with you," said Oats.
The debate over who should be the No. 1 team on Monday will fill some dead air space between now and Monday morning but it's meaningless. Oats was much more concerned with his team's inability to finish against Arkansas.
Alabama led by 18 points with 6:29 to go against Arkansas and very nearly gave the game away. The Hogs cut the lead all the way down to two before the Tide escaped with the four-point win at Bud Walton.
"I'm a little irritated because we played really well for 30 minutes, said Oats. "We got the turnovers fixed to start the second half, and then ... I feel like our guys just relaxed."
Alabama could have very easily given a game away on the road it had no business losing. What should have been a comfortable win turned into a dogfight. A better team would have finished the comeback and sent Alabama back to Tuscaloosa with a stunning loss. Being ranked No. 1 won't make Alabama immune to that.
The one intriguing factor to the rankings is that, for the first time, we're probably going to see a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup between Alabama and Auburn when the Tigers come to Tuscaloosa on Saturday. Which team is No. 1, and which is No. 2 won't have a single impact on which team walks out of Coleman Coliseum with a win.
It'll be fun for the fans, but neither Oats nor Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl are going to spend a single second sweating over it.