Despite the fact that projected rankings and NCAA Tournament bracket predictions will change hundreds of times between now and college basketball's Selection Sunday, they are fun for Alabama basketball fans as never before. Reaching the Alabama Crimson Tide's first-ever Final Four boosted Nate Oats' program to elite status and Crimson Tide fans are loving it.
It is almost six months before the 2024-25 college basketball season begins, but Bama Hammer will track predictions at least a couple of times per month until then. At this point, our sources will be Jon Rothstein and ESPN's Joe Lunardi. Rothstein tracks every roster change in college basketball and frequently updates his projection of the top 45 teams and their current relative strength. Lunardi is famous for his Bracketology, which he is already updating a couple of times per month.
Alabama Basketball Tops the SEC
Rothstein's current Top 45 again has 11 SEC teams ranked. As it was a couple of weeks ago, Alabama Basketball is No. 2. The second highest-ranked SEC team remains Auburn at No. 11. The only other SEC team whose ranking did not change is Texas A&M at No. 12. The Arkansas Razorbacks zoomed up to No. 13 from a previous position of No. 31. Florida slid from No. 17 to No. 19. The Tennessee Vols dropped even more moving from No. 18 to No. 21. Texas dropped two slots to No. 29. Mississippi State was down one No. 39; Georgia down one to No. 42; Kentucky down one to No. 43 and Ole Miss, also down one to No. 44.
Previously Joe Lunardi had Alabama Basketball as a 2-seed, but his current bracket has the Crimson Tide as a 3-seed. Lunardi continues to project Alabama as the SEC Tournament Champion. Lunardi continues to have 10 SEC teams making the 2025 Big Dance field, with an 11th, Missouri in his 'first four out' group. Auburn remains a 3-seed; Tennessee and Texas stayed projected as 4-seeds. Texas A&M is again a 5-seed. Arkansas got a big bump in Lunardi's latest bracket, moving from a 10-seed to a 7-seed. Florida dropped to 7-seed. Ole Miss dropped to a 8-seed. The Kentucky Wildcats remained an 8-seed. Mississippi State moved up one to an 8-seed.
Maybe all this is just crazy fun for Crimson Tide roundball fans, but we're all in on the 2024-25 Alabama Crimson Tide.