Bracketology 2024: Dayton and Saint Mary's lead teams that are climbing the seed list

Alabama Crimson Tide 16-7 (8-2 in SEC)

Roll Tide is what they say, and rolling is exactly what Alabama has been doing for a while now. After their 99-81 loss at Auburn on Wednesday, the Crimson Tide are 8-2 in league play and tied with South Carolina and Auburn for the top spot in the conference. Alabama knocked off the Gamecocks in their only meeting by 27 in Tuscaloosa and had to settle for a split with Auburn thanks to the loss on Wednesday, after beating them by four at home last month.

The Tide has now won eight of 10 since the beginning of 2024, and one thing is for sure, if you want to beat Alabama you're going to have to put the ball in the basket. They average 89.5 points per game and have put up 80 or more in 17 of their 23 games this year. It doesn't matter if they're scoring from inside or outside as they rank in the top-16 in the country in both two and three-point shooting percentages.

The fact that Alabama is sitting at the backend of the 2-seed line with the resume they have demonstrates how strong some of the teams at the top of the bracket are. They have just a 3-6 record in the first quad but seven of those games were against teams in the top 25 of the NET. Their metrics average is 8.75 and they have the 2nd best strength of schedule.

The Tide offense is a high-octane engine that shoots 38% from beyond the arc, 57% from inside it, and 79% from the charity stripe, all three are in the top 16 in the country. They are even better in effective field goal percentage and offensive efficiency where they rank 4th and 2nd respectively. The Tide keeps rolling off wins and come Selection Sunday they may be the quietest and most dangerous top-four seed in the field.