Alabama vs Gonzaga will be one of the best games for 2021-22 season

When it comes to NCAA Basketball programs that we’re excited to watch for the 2021-22 season, Gonzaga and Alabama are two that come to mind. No disrespect to the usual heavyweights such as Duke, Michigan State, Kansas, and others but having new blood at a high level is just as fun as the traditional “blue bloods”.

The Gonzaga Bulldogs are making a case for becoming a “blue blood” though. They’re the only team in the country that has made the Sweet 16 in six straight seasons, including two of them ending up in the national title game. Gonzaga was one game shy of finishing unbeaten but despite the loss, has quickly recovered by adding three 5-star prospects (Chet Holmgren, Hunter Sallis, and Nolan Hickman) and getting back both Andrew Nembhard and All-American Drew Timme.

With Timme’s official return, the Bulldogs are dubbed as the likely preseason No. 1 team for the second year in a row. And since no games in WCC play have much national interest, the non-conference games they’ll be playing will be of high intrigue. They already have big names such as Duke and Texas already scheduled but a potentially even better team has emerged.

It was announced earlier that Gonzaga was going to play a big name at a neutral site game in Seattle and quite frankly, they couldn’t have done much better. While the Bulldogs rise has been in the works for a couple of decades, Alabama has taken a giant leap in just the couple of years since head coach Nate Oats arrived from Buffalo.

The Crimson Tide quickly became a recruiting powerhouse, landing key transfers and top-50 talent out of high school. It paid off in a big way this past season, finishing 26-7 overall and winning the SEC title, along with making the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2004.

And they could be even better next season, thanks to the return of key guards Jahvon Quinerly and Jaden Shakelford, The Crimson Tide also has a top-10 recruiting class coming in, led by five-star point guard JD Davison, along with top-30 center prospect Charles Bediako. Transfers Nimari Burnett and Noah Gurley are also rotational pieces that’ll have a big impact as well.

An early look at this matchup says that we’ll see a lot of points, as both teams ranked near the top of the country in terms of offensive efficiency. Alabama loves to hoist up three-pointers, while Gonzaga prefers to dominate down low. We can see that in this matchup, as Timme and Holmgren is a mismatch for the Tide inside, while the SEC power has guards with experience playing together, compared to the Bulldogs having Nembhard and several newcomers to try and mesh with.

Assuming both teams will look as good on paper as we expect them, this should end up being a top-10 matchup next season, with the combined final score going past 160 points. We’ll see how Holmgren does against an athletic roster in the Tide, while Alabama will need to find an answer for Timme. This will be a great matchup to look out for months from now, with both teams benefitting. And then hopefully, round two down south will be just as good.