Alabama Basketball: 2021-22 season preview and outlook for Crimson Tide

Season outlook for Alabama Basketball in 2021-22

Alabama has (in my opinion) without a doubt the most difficult schedule in the nation, and it’s not particularly close. The Tide play four, and very likely five, non-conference opponents who are currently ranked in the AP Top-25, and three of those five teams were in last year’s Final Four.

Those five teams are Kansas, Gonzaga, Houston, Memphis, and Baylor, but as I mentioned earlier, the Tide would only play Kansas should both teams win their first two games in the ESPN Events Invitational (which is very likely considering the other teams are Iona, Belmont, Drake, Miami, North Texas, and Belmont.)

Should Alabama play Kansas, the Tide would play the most ranked non-conference opponents of anyone in College Basketball, and those five teams have an average ranking of 7.8. If Alabama can win three of those games, it would just speak to how strong Nate Oats’ squad is for the 2021-22 Season.

Of those five teams, three are ranked in the top-10 at first, third, and eighth, and four of the five teams are ranked above Alabama who sits at 14, with Memphis being the other opponent ranked above Bama, as they sit at 12th.

And that’s just the non-conference schedule, Alabama plays an additional six games against teams who are currently ranked in the AP Top-25, with Tennessee, Kentucky, Auburn, and Arkansas all being ranked.

All that being said, Alabama has an absolutely BRUTAL 2021-22 schedule, so if they enter the SEC Tournament with six or fewer losses, the Tide should absolutely be one of the top teams in the nation, considering they play 11 games against teams ranked in the preseason top-25.

Alabama is a very good team, and they have the potential to make a deep run in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, and if they enter SEC play with two or three losses, I would expect them to potentially be playing in April.