Bracketology 2022: Duke, Gonzaga, UCLA among early big winners
By Joey Loose
Alabama
To some, there seems to be this big divide between the power conferences and the mid-majors in college basketball. Each year, we see these mid-majors pulling off upsets in the NCAA Tournament, meaning these power conference teams aren’t untouchable. In this opening week, we’ve seen a number of these upsets, a list that includes Pittsburgh, Georgetown, Miami, Georgia Tech, Virginia, Arizona State, and many more. It may seem like there’s no winning in playing some of these mid-major squads in the opening week, but that wasn’t the case for Alabama.
The Crimson Tide began this season with a pair of tough mid-major opponents at home. On opening night, Alabama welcomed in Louisiana Tech and slammed the door in their face, winning a big game by 29 points against a Bulldogs squad that is likely a top 100 team in the nation. Three days later, they had a closer call, but still handled their business against a very talented South Dakota State team, one that could very easily win the Summit League.
Alabama began the season ranked 14th in the AP Top 25, and while neither of these victories will exactly inspire uneducated voters to move them up, these are two very solid wins. Winning these early games will help longterm when these are solidified as top 100 wins. Their next week features a couple more intriguing mid-major games, albeit against slightly weaker foes. Either way, South Alabama and Oakland await this week and an early December showdown with Gonzaga looms.