SEC Basketball: Preseason power rankings for 2024-25 season

01. Alabama Crimson Tide 

There could only be one team at the top of these rankings. Nate Oats has turned Alabama into one of the better teams in college basketball since taking over in 2019. Alabama has sky-high expectations going into this year after making the team's first Final Four appearance last season.

The Tide had quite a bit of roster turnover from last season, losing two of its top scorers from a team that averaged 90 points per game. But what Alabama does return is Mark Sears (21.5 ppg), Grant Nelson (11.9 ppg), and Latrell Wrightsell (8.9 ppg). Nate Oats has two of the top players in the conference to build around this year, but that didn’t stop him from signing one of the top transfer classes in the country. This offseason Oats signed Chris Youngblood (15.3 ppg) from South Florida, Houston Mallette (14.7 ppg) from Pepperdine, Clifford Omoruyi (10.4 ppg) from Rutgers, and Aden Holloway (7.3 ppg) from Auburn. 

Both Youngblood and Mallette are good three-point shooters, making 41 percent from deep, which should allow them to thrive in a Nate Oats offense that shot nearly 30 threes per game last season. Alabama averaged 90.1 points per game last year to lead the country in scoring. With Sears and Nelson returning and the additions of Youngblood and Mallette there shouldn’t be too much of a drop-off in production this upcoming season.

Last season the Tide gave up 81 points per game which ranked No. 357 out of 362 DI schools. While it shouldn’t be expected that Alabama will turn into one of the top defenses overnight, it should be expected that Alabama will be improved on that end of the court. By simply adding Clifford Omoruyi this offseason, the Tide guaranteed that it would be better on the defensive end. Last season Omoruyi was the top shot blocker in the Big Ten with 2.9 per game. Nelson (1.6 bpg) was a solid shot blocker last year, but a true defensive big man will make things easier for Alabama moving forward. 

Alabama made all the right moves this offseason. It brought back one of the best players in college basketball, reloaded on offense, and added an elite post defender. All of which should make for another great season for the Tide.