Alabama looks to avoid a second loss in SEC play as they take on Texas A&M in a rescheduled matchup.
TV – 3:00 pm ET, Thursday, February 18, 2021, on SEC Network
Location – Reed Arena, College Station, TX
After the game was moved from Tuesday to Thursday due to travel concerns throughout the South, the Crimson Tide and Aggies will meet in College Station in what will be Texas A&M’s first game in almost three weeks.
Alabama comes into this game ranked as the #8 team in the AP Poll, and on the verge of the 1 line according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi. The Crimson Tide are sitting atop the SEC at 12-1, and are beginning to close in on their first SEC regular-season title since 2002.
The Crimson Tide come into this game averaging 80.8 PPG, and a defense that ranks 2nd in the country according to KenPom. National Coach of the Year candidate Nate Oats’ squad has rolled through SEC play up to this point and doesn’t look to be slowing down anytime soon. Whether it’s SEC Player of the Year candidates Herbert Jones and John Petty Jr, or young guards such as Jaden Shackelford, Jahvon Quinerly, or Josh Primo, this team can beat you in many ways and is fully cemented as the SEC’s top team this season.
Meanwhile, this has been a fairly disappointing year so far for the Texas A&M Aggies. The Aggies have only played 15 games so far this season, and have a current overall record of 8-7, as well as a 2-6 record in the SEC.
The Aggies have looked good defensively in year two of the Buzz Williams era, but the same cannot be said offensively. Only averaging 63.5 PPG, Texas A&M has only scored over 80 points twice this season and will have to score at least 80 to have a chance to beat the Tide. One bright spot for Texas A&M this season however is sophomore forward Emanuel Miller who is averaging 14.8 PPG and 7.7 RPG on 56.7% shooting from the field.
Texas A&M won last season’s meeting between the Tide and the Aggies in Tuscaloosa 74-68 and will need to keep the score similar this time to have a chance to come out with the victory. Texas A&M will need to play their best game of the season against Alabama to win, and it doesn’t help that this is the Aggies’ first game since late January.
The key to this game for Texas A&M is offensively, the Aggies will have to score a lot to have a chance. Can they score with Alabama? That is a big ask for this Aggies team, and it remains to be seen if they can do it. Alabama will come out firing with sights of an SEC title and a 1 seed within reach and may be too much to handle this season for Texas A&M.
Prediction: Alabama 90 Texas A&M 68