11. Alabama (2-1)
As the season tipped off, it was new faces in new places for an Alabama team depending on a few key figures to replace their departed talent after an Elite Eight run. Instead of needing time to settle in, the Crimson Tide went on the road and grabbed one of the most impressive November wins of the year at St. John’s. Riding that high, Alabama headed home this week to face another significant change and familiar foe.
Another highly-anticipated early season battle with Purdue unfortunately went the Boilermakers’ way yet again, as Alabama fell 87-80 at home. The game turned into quite the slugfest but the Crimson Tide were significantly outrebounded by the Purdue front. Aden Holloway stood out with 21 points, including 5 of Alabama’s 16 3-pointers, but the defense just couldn’t do enough to slow the roll of perhaps the nation’s best team.
Less than two weeks into the regular season you could already argue that this Alabama squad is battle tested. Oats has never shied from challenges in nonconference and it’s gone a long to way prepare his teams for when March comes around. For now, the Crimson Tide are coming off a performance with too many long-range shots and not enough pressure in the paint. We’ll see if they can fix some of these issues before a major test against another ranked team in Illinois next week.