With the SEC Basketball Tournament just weeks away, one can believe it’s fair to say that #1 Alabama is still the favorite to win the tournament.
Alabama’s D1 basketball team this season has had a tremendous season thus far, ranking #1 for the first time since 2002. Freshman Brandon Miller revived this team leading the team with 18.7 PPG and shooting 45.2% from the field. After a disappointing loss Wednesday night against the Tennessee Volunteers, one is still to believe that Alabama will remain at the top of the AP poll after two great wins against Auburn and Florida.
With their upcoming game against Georgia this Saturday, Alabama is projected to win by 97% according to ESPN Analytics. This win will only benefit the Tide in the SEC standings and only give them more confidence for the tournament. The only remaining games Alabama has in fact are all SEC matches, therefore, Alabama must stay consistent to remain a favorite in the tournament.
Alabama fans will not have to worry about this due to the now 22-4 national record along with their 12-1 SEC record. They average 84 PPG which is in the top 6 of the entire nation. The real reason Alabama lost to Tennessee was due to their 19 TO against Tennessee’s 8, on top of Tennessee’s defense being lights out with 11 steals to Alabama’s 3. It all came down to positioning, pressure, and control of the game. With the game being in Knoxville, it was clear that Tennessee was going to put up a fight. Flashback to last October when Alabama couldn’t even hear their own calls due to the absolute monsoon of Rocky Top fans cheering against The Tide. It’s disappointing to see Alabama lose in Rocky Top a second time this year, however, I for one still have a lot of faith in this team is as great as it has performed for the majority of the season. If Purdue can lose to North Western then I don’t see a major problem with this loss. Alabama just needs to keep focus from making pointless mistakes in turnovers and getting stolen from.
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