Alabama basketball suffered its fourth loss of the season on Saturday in a 94-85 defeat at the hands of the rival Auburn Tigers in the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup in SEC history.
Alabama couldn't overcome a porous shooting afternoon. The Crimson Tide connected on just 5/26 from three and shot under 40% from the field overall. Against an elite opponent, you can't have that kind of shooting night and expect to win. No matter where the game is played.
Losing to the consensus No. 1 team in the country was never going to severely impact Alabama's national standing. On Monday, we learned of the full impact of the loss.
Alabama fell to No. 4 in both the AP and Coaches Polls this week. They were ranked No. 2 in the AP and No. 1 in the Coaches Poll last week. They were surpassed by Florida and Duke in the AP Poll, sliding back to 4th.
Alabama's final six regular season opponents all remain ranked in this week's AP Poll, starting with a road matchup against No. 15 Missouri on Wednesday night.
Alabama's standing in Joe Lunardi's latest Bracketology
Alabama has been sitting at No. 2 overall in Joe Lunardi's Bracketology for a couple of weeks. That's where they stood on Saturday in the NCAA Tournament committee's initial ranking of the Top 16 teams. Of course, those rankings came out prior to the Crimson Tide's loss to Auburn.
According to Lunardi, Alabama's standing remains unchanged in the aftermath of the loss to the Tigers.
— Joe Lunardi (@ESPNLunardi) February 17, 2025
Alabama remains a No. 1 seed and the No. 2 overall team in Lunardi's bracket projection, setting them up in the Midwest region. It's a bit of a better draw than the committee gave the Crimson Tide. Purdue was the No. 2 seed on Saturday in Alabama's region, which would potentially set up a de facto road game for Alabama in the Elite 8 against the Boilermakers in Indianapolis.
Alabama was the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament two years ago, the first time the Tide had ever received a No. 1 seed in March Madness. They haven't locked up a top seed in the tournament yet, but a 4-2 mark down the stretch against a brutal schedule would likely do it, regardless of what happens in the SEC Tournament.