18. Alabama (11-5)
Offense has always been king for Nate Oats at Alabama and that’s a big reason why his teams have been successful in recent years. The Crimson Tide have these great playmakers and shot makers and sometimes they just get into these shootouts where you almost expect the Crimson Tide to have an answer. This past week they didn’t have those answers.
After a great start to league play, Alabama fell 96-90 at unbeaten Vanderbilt back on Wednesday night. Amari Allen had 25 points and 11 rebounds while Aden Holloway put up 22 points in the loss. Things got even worse on Saturday as the Crimson Tide lost 92-88 at home to Texas. Labaron Philon Jr. led the scoring with 21 points and Taylor Bol Bowen had a double-double off the bench.
The Crimson Tide scored a lot of points but didn’t win any games this week. In the blink of an eye this national contender has sunk to 1-2 in SEC play. The defense really has to show up if they’re going to be a contender as you can’t play these types of games and expect to win them regularly, even with great pieces like Philon and Holloway. The Crimson Tide next take their show on the road for a pair of games against Mississippi State and Oklahoma to avert this recent downward trend.