Alabama have won six of their last seven games of the regular season, culminating in a 10-point victory on Saturday in Georgia, achieving 16 conference wins for the second time in the school’s history.
But as Tide prepares to travel to Nashville later this week for the SEC tournament, the program’s most promising team in two decades is at least a month away from playing its best basketball of the season.
Winning what would have been the school’s first conference tournament title since 1991 is anything but certain.
Double-digit routes in January for some of the SEC’s best teams now seem a distant memory for Alabama, which fell behind 14 points in the first half of Saturday in Athens. Tide had to get up from another lethargic midday start away from the Coleman Coliseum and recover to defeat a team he easily controlled three weeks earlier.
Coach Nate Oats told his players in the locker room at the Stegeman Coliseum that he needs the second-half effort against Georgia to advance to the full game when Tide is played in the tournament’s quarter-finals on Friday.
“We cannot pay in Nashville to leave as we did [Saturday]”Said Oats. “We are proud of our boys, but we have to play better again. More like the second half than the first half going to Nashville. “
The game will be against the winner of the 8th and 9th of Thursday, between Kentucky and the state of Mississippi. Alabama defeated both opponents at home and at home this season, but played some of their worst basketball offensive in the SEC’s recent victory in Starkville, while Kentucky dismantled South Carolina with a 28 point win on Saturday.
“Some of the teams that don’t have the best records have a lot of talent and are now starting to come together,” said Oats. “You are seeing perhaps what they hoped they could be. Well, this is a dangerous team. Our Friday game is going to be a tough one. “
The 11 am CT tip at Bridgestone Arena will not play Alabama’s strengths. It is 3-3 in games this season starting at 1pm CT or later, notably dropping into deep holes in Oklahoma and Missouri in the 11 hour loss before Saturday’s slow start in Georgia.
Win Friday and the prize will be a midday submission in Saturday’s semifinals, followed by a championship game at noon on Sunday. Alabama may also get a dreaded start during the day in the first round of next week’s NCAA tournament.
Alabama is widely projected as the runner-up, with the chance to climb to the front row with several wins in Nashville and the help of the top four teams today. An early departure, however, could turn the tide in the eyes of the selection committee before the keys are revealed next Sunday night.
“At this stage, with what is our record – if we lost on Friday, I’m sure it would hurt us,” said Oats on Friday. “If we lost on Saturday, it probably wouldn’t help us. If you get to Sunday, play well and win, it can obviously help us ”.
Alabama was scheduled to play Tennessee as the No. 9 seed in last year’s SEC tournament, before the game was canceled just before the COVID-19 pandemic began. In his previous four seasons as a Buffalo coach, Oats has won the Mid-American Conference tournament three times.
“So I’m a fan of them,” said Oats with a smile on Friday. “I liked to cut the nets in Cleveland.”
Oats won his last two MAC tournaments as No. 1 seed, but left Akron as No. 3 seed by winning his first title in 2016. He will return to his hunted role this week, knowing that other SEC teams are playing better lately.
That list is topped by the runner-up in Arkansas, who has won 11 consecutive SEC games since being defeated by Alabama in January.
“We are seed # 1, but we need to get back to playing our best basketball on both sides of the ball,” said Oats. “We haven’t done that in a while. Arkansas is the hottest team in the league at the moment.
“I think there are a lot of teams that can go in and win. There are teams that are going to play on Thursday that have a great chance of winning the entire tournament. “
With only 13 teams participating because of Auburn’s post-season self-imposed ban, the tournament will start on Wednesday night with a solitary game between Texas A&M and Vanderbilt before four games on Thursday.
Mike Rodak is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mikerodak.