Saturday night will feature a pivotal game for the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Tennessee Vols. Alabama can't afford another home loss, and Tennessee must rebound from last Saturday's collapse against the Kentucky Wildcats.
The Crimson Tide has not been impressive since beating Kentucky on Jan. 3. Losses to Vanderbilt and Texas followed that win. The two road wins have come against two of the SEC's weaker teams: Mississippi State and Oklahoma.
Like Alabama, Tennessee had a mid-week respite. Both teams needed the break, but the Vols needed it more. The Tennessee site All for Tennessee used the word "brutal" to talk about the upcoming game. They were talking about it being a "brutal break" for Tennessee with Alabama adding Charles Bediako to its roster. The same word could describe the impact of the Vols' loss to Kentucky.
With around five minutes left in the first half against the Wildcats, the Vols had a 16-point lead. Kentucky flipped a switch. The second half story was a Kentucky comeback and a Tennessee collapse. Tennessee site Rocky Top Talk wrote: "A terrible, awful, no-good loss that, frankly, gives me grave concerns about whether this team can even win a game in March."
Rick Barnes is not known for fielding bad defensive teams. But short-handed Kentucky had its way against the Vols' weak defensive effort. Tennessee can't be expected to play the same way on Saturday.
Rick Barnes' history against the Alabama Crimson Tide
Barnes holds the upper hand against Nate Oats, with a 6-3 record, including four straight wins for Tennessee. ESPN's BPI has the two teams almost equal, with Tennessee at No. 16 and Alabama at No. 17. Bart Torvik has Alabama at No. 17 and the Vols at No. 19. Torvik's model ranks the Vols at No. 15 in Defensive Efficiency and the Crimson Tide is ranked No. 70. A smaller gap exists in Offensive Efficiency, Alabama is No. 1 and Tennessee is No. 37. In the important Wins Above the Bubble stat, Alabama is No. 17 and Tennessee is No. 40.
At No. 19 in Friday's NCAA NET rankings and having slipped to a projected NCAA Tournament 5-seed in many projections, a win over the Vols would boost the Crimson Tide's resume. A Tennessee win might help the Vols even more.