Memphis vs. Alabama: College basketball game preview, TV schedule

Alabama has been dubbed a team to watch for this season. By opening night, we may very know how seriously to take them.

TV schedule: Friday, Nov. 10, 6:30 p.m. ET on CBSSN

Arena: Alumni Hall, Annapolis, Maryland

Since Avery Johnson arrived to the Alabama Crimson Tide from the NBA, Alabama has been an intriguing team to watch. His connections and name ID were big sells to help bring top-100 players to Tuscaloosa. The identity of this team has been their defense, as they were considered to be one of the better units in basketball last year. Their Achilles Heel was the offense, which was too stagnant to win the games needed for an at-large berth.

That seems to be different this time around, with potential one and done scorer Collin Sexton coming in. Add him to uber-athletic Braxton Key and top defender Donta Hall, and the Crimson Tide should definitely make the NCAA Tournament.

We’ll see immediately if the expectations are warranted, as on opening night they’ll take on Tubby Smith and the Memphis Tigers. After the massive transfers this off-season including KJ and Dedric Lawson, this game looked like more of a squash. But give credit to the staff, as they went the JUCO route and picked up talented players like Kyvon Davenport and Kareem Brewton.

It’s difficult to truly say how good this Memphis team really is, but the makeup is familiar to the Smith-coached style of tough players who can defend and handle the post. This is a tough first game for Sexton to play in, but it’ll pay off when the Tide plays teams like South Carolina and Tennessee later on.

Next: Alabama basketball season preview

This game will not be pretty on the eyes, but should still be a good game nonetheless. If Alabama wants to take that next step and be taken seriously, then this opening, neutral-site game will need to end in the win column for them. In a first to 60 defensive slugfest, the Tide rolls on.

Prediction: Alabama 64 – Memphis 59