Alabama is taking its eight-game winning streak back on the road on Tuesday in Athens to face off with a Georgia team that could solidify its standing as an NCAA Tournament team by knocking off the Crimson Tide at home.
Nate Oats sounded the alarm bells on Monday about his team's maturity to leave the emotional win over Tennessee on Saturday behind to refocus on the Bulldogs.
If Alabama was prone to overlook Georgia, oddsmakers may have done Oats a favor. When the line opened on FanDuel, Georgia was a 1.5-point favorite. But that line has swung heavily in the 24 hours.
As of Tuesday morning, oddsmakers have adjusted, and now Alabama is a 1.5-point road favorite on FanDuel.
Alabama basketball is a small road favorite over Georgia
Road games are always difficult, and the line is in near lockstep with analytical models such as KenPom and Bart Torvik. KenPom projects a 92-91 win for the Crimson Tide with an implied win probability of 55%.
Bart Torvik has Alabama favored by 1.1 points with a 53% implied win probability.
Everyone seems to think the Crimson Tide will be in for a dogfight in Athens. Hopefully, Alabama understands that and approaches the game with that mentality.
It'll be a great test of maturity for this team as March is now here. Alabama is playing well on both ends of the floor right now; you don't win eight straight by accident. But they can't afford any slip-ups at this point, particularly if they want to have an opportunity to jump up to a 3-seed in the NCAA Tournament.
In Joe Lunardi's latest Bracketology, the Crimson Tide is ranked No. 13 in his seed listing, which makes it the highest 4-seed and right there to move up. But it'll probably take a road win over Georgia and a win over Auburn on Saturday at home to make that happen.