Who will Alabama basketball play in the SEC Tournament? Examining the Tide’s path
Alabama basketball closed out the regular season in the best possible way by spoiling Auburn’s Senior Day on a game-winning shot by Mark Sears in overtime.
It was a much-needed win for Alabama to snap a two-game losing streak and scratch a third win out of the brutal seven-game stretch they had to finish the regular season. Beating Auburn re-established them as title contenders. If Alabama can beat Auburn on the road, they can beat anyone, in any gym.
The Crimson Tide had already clinched a double bye in the SEC Tournament but the win over Auburn locked them into the No. 3 seed, on the opposite side of the bracket from Auburn. The Tide and Tigers won’t meet again unless they both advance to the SEC Championship on Sunday.
Alabama will get a much-needed rest as the Tide doesn’t play now until Friday in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament.
Examining Alabama basketball’s SEC Tournament path
Full bracket can be viewed here.
Alabama got a pretty favorable draw for Friday’s quarterfinals. Against the three teams they could possibly play on Friday, the Crimson Tide went a combined 4-0 against the three teams.
Alabama will play Kentucky or the Georgia/Oklahoma winner.
The 6-seeded Kentucky Wildcats are the most likely opponent for the Tide on Friday. Alabama swept the two regular season meetings against Kentucky, knocking them off 102-97 in Lexington and then beating them 96-83 in Tuscaloosa two weeks ago.
Alabama matches up well with Kentucky as Mark Pope’s Wildcats struggle defensively and Nate Oats has identified matchups his team can take advantage of in both meetings. Beating a team three consecutive times is never easy and Kentucky is certainly capable of playing well enough to beat Alabama, but it is a better matchup than Alabama could have drawn.
11-seed Georgia has been playing well enough recently that it can’t be discounted that they could potentially upset Kentucky in the 2nd round. The Bulldogs finished the regular season winning four consecutive games to effectively clinch an NCAA Tournament bid. They knocked off Florida at home, won back-to-back road games at Vanderbilt and South Carolina, and then finished the regular season by beating Vanderbilt at home.
Alabama and Georgia played on February 1st in Tuscaloosa in a game the Crimson Tide dominated en route to a 90-69 win. It was one of the better defensive performances of the season for Alabama.
Oklahoma enters the SEC Tournament on the bubble. They gave themselves renewed life by beating Missouri at home and Texas on the road to finish the regular season. A win over Georgia on Wednesday might be enough to clinch a bid for Porter Moser and his team.
A rematch with Florida most likely awaits in Saturday’s semifinals if Alabama takes care of business and Florida can get past Missouri or the Mississippi State/LSU winner.
The Gators aren’t a great matchup for the Crimson Tide, as we saw last week when Florida came to Coleman and won. It would be an easy game for Oats to motivate his team for, however. You would have to expect Grant Nelson and Cliff Omoruyi to have a little extra juice for that one to try and make up for their struggles in the regular season defeat.
Alabama isn’t likely playing for much in Nashville. They’ve locked up a 2-seed in the NCAA Tournament regardless of what happens in the SEC Tournament. However, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Alabama could move back to the 1-seed line by winning the SEC Tournament.
Beating Auburn on the road will carry a lot of weight. If they somehow beat Kentucky, Florida, and Auburn back-to-back-to-back in Nashville, it will be difficult to keep them from being a 1-seed.
