NCAA Basketball top 25 power rankings: Tennessee and Villanova rise, Alabama falls

21. Alabama (9-3)

Alabama basketball is back, with head coach Nate Oats continuing to make major strides in his third year in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide won the SEC last season in impressive fashion and are looking to replicate that success this year. At times, Alabama has looked like one of the best teams in the nation, but at other times has looked very fallible.

Alabama’s schedule has been surprisingly challenging; the Crimson Tide made it through nonconference season without playing any bad teams. Impressive wins over Gonzaga and Houston helped boost them up the rankings, but losses to Iona, Memphis, and this past week against Davidson are hard to forget. Alabama is a fantastic offensive team, but their defense simply needs to do more in some of these big games, failing them especially against Memphis two weeks ago.

The Crimson Tide currently sit 9th in offensive efficiency, with plenty of work still left to do on both sides of the ball. The good news is that Alabama has been challenged and will be ready for the rigors of SEC play, with nobody in the conference having as good a win as the Crimson Tide possess, having knocked off Gonzaga in Seattle. When the Crimson Tide are making shots and protecting the basketball, this team is going to be hard to beat, especially when Jaden Shackelford catches fire from outside.