NCAA Basketball: 5 biggest disappointments during the non-conference

Alabama Crimson Tide

Yes, Alabama has an 8-3 record with wins over Arizona and a good Murray State team. Yes, they battled back and showed character in beating a pesky Penn State team last week. They have a very good freshman in Kira Lewis Jr. who is averaging just under 15 points per game. But even with all that, they have to be considered one of the busts of the first half of the year.

The Arizona win does not look as good now as they have struggled and the Murray State game is a game they should win at home nine times out of ten. The problem for the Crimson Tide is they have looked so inconsistent for a team expected to maybe be able to compete with Tennessee, Auburn, and Kentucky at the top of the SEC.

Instead, they have a 16 point loss to Northeastern at home. They lost by six on the road to Central Florida, but again that was not the low point for the Crimson Tide this year. That would come when they blew a 21 point halftime lead to Georgia State. The same Georgia State team who lost to Montana earlier this year. It was one of the worst halves of basketball for Alabama in a long time and showed that maybe they aren’t quite ready for the big boys.

Alabama was looking to make strides after last year tournament appearance and they may still get there, but right now with those bad losses they look more like a pretender than a contender so far.