6. Alabama Crimson Tide - 10-2
Coach Nate Oats is always one of the more aggressive schedulers in the non-con, playing no true awful teams ever. Of course, that also means they’re going to lose some games. The early blemishes include Purdue on the road and Oregon in the Players Era Championship game.
But the Crimson Tide also has plenty of quality wins. The list includes Illinois, Rutgers, UNC, Creighton, and Houston in OT. They also had a unique road win over North Dakota in Grant Nelson’s homecoming, though that was closer than expected.
As expected, Mark Sears leads the team with 17.8 ppg and 3.9 apg, though his shooting is under compared to last year’s big numbers. Grant Nelson (12.8 ppg and 8.7 rpg) is more consistent this time and is second in scoring, while Labaron Philon and Aden Holloway have been impactful freshmen contributors. They’re also getting healthier, getting Chris Youngblood and Houston Mallette minutes, though losing double-digit scorer and defender Latrell Wrightsell Jr. for the season is a blow.
The elite offense for Alabama will get tested by some quality SEC defenses going forward. After a matchup with South Dakota State, they take on unbeaten Oklahoma to open league play, followed by road games at South Carolina and Texas A&M.