NCAA Basketball: 2021 ESPN Events Invitational preview and predictions

DETROIT - APRIL 03: A detail of a player from the Connecticut Huskies holding a basketball with the 2009 Final Four logo on it during practice prior to the Final Four of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at Ford Field on April 3, 2009 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

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NCAA Basketball Alabama Crimson Tide Jaden Shackelford Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports /

Alabama Crimson Tide

Record: 4-0

Coming off a trip to the Sweet Sixteen where they lost to UCLA in overtime, Nate Oats’ No. 10 Alabama Crimson Tide has come out of the gate swinging this season. Despite losing multiple key pieces over the summer, the defending SEC champs are now 4-0, beginning the season with two decisive wins over two very good teams, Louisiana Tech and South Dakota State, beating them by a combined 45 points.

Guys like Herb Jones and John Petty are gone but Jaden Shackelford and Jahvon Quinerly are back and leading the Tide off to their quick start, leading the team in scoring with 19.5 and 15.5 points per game respectively. Despite losing transfer Nimari Burnett for the season due to injury, but freshmen JD Davison, Charles Bediako, and Keon Ellis have more than admirably filled in.

The trio has been strong on the glass for Alabama, pulling down 18.1 boards per game and sophomore Darius Miles has also gotten off to a quick start averaging 10.3 points and three rebounds per contest.

At least early on, the Crimson Tide looks like a team more than capable of defending their conference crown and making another run in March and should probably be considered one of the favorites in this tournament.

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