Busting Brackets
Fansided

Projecting Alabama Basketball’s path to a 2021 National Championship

By Matthew Travis

Alabama celebrates their 80 to 79 win against LSU as they raise the championship trophy after the SEC Men's Basketball Tournament Championship game at Bridgestone Arena Sunday, March 14, 2021 in Nashville, Tenn.Nas Sec Lsu Ala 053
Alabama celebrates their 80 to 79 win against LSU as they raise the championship trophy after the SEC Men's Basketball Tournament Championship game at Bridgestone Arena Sunday, March 14, 2021 in Nashville, Tenn.Nas Sec Lsu Ala 053 /
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Michigan Wolverines Mike Smith Michigan Vs Ohio State
Michigan Wolverines Mike Smith Michigan Vs Ohio State /

Alabama in Elite 8

The Elite Eight is when it gets a little more difficult to preview due to the fact that there are a total of eight teams who could potentially get there, but we will do our best anyway. The eight potential teams Alabama could play are one-seed Michigan, four-seed Florida State, five-seed Colorado, eight-seed LSU, nine-seed St. Bonaventure, 12-seed Georgetown, 13-seed UNC Greensboro, and 16-seed Texas Southern.

We’re going to go ahead and say that Texas Southern, UNC Greensboro, and Georgetown will not advance to the elite eight, but that leaves five other teams. The most likely of course is the top-seeded Michigan Wolverines.

Michigan enters the NCAA Tournament with a 20-4 overall record, 14-4 combined record against quadrant one and two opponents, they have a NET Ranking of four, and they’re 7-3 in their last 10. The Wolverines have struggled recently without one of their best players in Isaiah Livers, and because of it, three of their four losses on the season have come in their previous five games.

The second highest-ranked team that could advance to the Elite Eight in the top part of the East Region is Florida State. The Seminoles are 16-6 on the season, but four of their six losses have come over their last 10 games, which certainly isn’t a source of motivation heading into the NCAA Tournament. Nonetheless, the Seminoles come in at 25th in the NET Rankings and are 10-5 against quadrant one and two opponents.

Colorado who is the five seed in the East Region, is 22-8 on the season, is ranked 15th in the NET Rankings, and holds a record of 10-5 against quadrant one and two opponents, but they’re coming off a loss in the PAC-12 Championship game against Oregon State. Personally, I have the Buffaloes getting past Florida State and into the Sweet 16 on my bracket.

The eighth seed in the East Region is LSU, who Alabama has beaten three times this season, most recently in the SEC Championship game. LSU is 18-9 on the season, ranked 28th in the NET Rankings, they’re 7-3 over their last 10, and are 8-9 against quadrant one and two opponents on the season as well. Personally, I have LSU upsetting Michigan and Colorado and advancing to the Elite Eight for the fourth matchup against Alabama.

The ninth seed in the East is St. Bonaventure, the Bonnies are ranked 23rd in the NET Rankings, have a record of 16-4 on the season, are 7-3 in their last 10, and hold a record of 7-3 against quadrant one and two opponents.

The most likely matchup for Alabama in the Elite Eight is obviously Michigan, but personally, I see LSU pulling a string of upsets to advance to the Elite Eight for yet another matchup with the Tide.

However, because we’ve seen Alabama and LSU play three times already, we’ll take a look at a potential Alabama-Michigan game.

As mentioned earlier, Michigan is without one of their best players in Isaiah Livers, and without him, they’ve struggled SEVERELY losing three of their four total games this season, over their past five. Michigan is definitely the worst one seed of the four, and because of that Alabama should at least be able to be competitive with Michigan.

Overall, I think Alabama does get past whoever they’d play in the Elite Eight, whether it be Michigan, Florida State, Colorado, LSU, or St. Bonaventure, and with that, get into the Final Four for the first time in program history.

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