Alabama’s NCAA Tournament Resume at a Glance — January 12
Alabama couldn't have asked for a better week than it had since our first installment of this look at their tournament resume.
When the week began, the Crimson Tide couldn't claim a single win against RPI top 100 teams. Now the team has three. Most importantly, Anthony Grant's team took care of the two games they had control over: Texas A&M and Tennessee. Alabama average margin of victory last week was nearly 20 points and the team snapped a 16-game road losing streak against Tennessee.
There's still plenty of work to do before tournament experts start mentioning Alabama among the group of at-large teams, but you should start hearing their name mentioned in the conversation of bubble teams. Let's take a look at how the resume looks heading into the second full week of January.
The Core Numbers
Alabama Record: 12-3 (one win vs non-D1)
- No losses outside of the top 50
- No wins vs top 50
- 3 wins vs RPI 51-100 (UCLA, Texas A&M, Tennessee)
- 1 win vs RPI 101-150 (Arizona State)
Current Projections
ESPN Bracketology by Joe Lunardi - His Bracketology isn't updated until Thursdays now, but his latest 'Bracket Math' doesn't have Alabama listed among the first eight teams out.
CBSSports.com Projections by Jerry Palm - In one week, Alabama has gone from unmentioned to the 'First four out.' In fact, Palm thinks Alabama is the very first team out of the tournament as of today.
Current Rankings
ESPN RPI - #29 (Last week - #46)
Jerry Palm RPI - #33 (Last week - #54)
KenPom - #39 (Last week - #70)
Sagarin - #49 (Last week - #70)
This Week's Opponents
Away vs South Carolina (Tuesday, Jan. 13 @ 8PM, ESPNU)
This game looks much more winnable after last week's results. The Gamecocks (RPI 99) lost by four at home to Florida and by 16 at Ole Miss. But a road win in the SEC is always tough to come by. Alabama's last two games at South Carolina were final possession losses. A win here would put the Crimson Tide in good position in conference.
Home vs #1 Kentucky (Saturday, Jan. 17 @ 3PM, ESPN)
The Wildcats haven't lost all season but have looked far from invincible in conference play. That alone should give Alabama confidence in the first of two matchups with Kentucky this month. This should be one of the most exciting home games in years, and a win would all but put Alabama in the driver's seat for a tournament birth.
How Key Non-Conference Opponents are Faring
Wichita State (RPI 10) - The Shockers cruised in two victories last week and have one tough game on the schedule this week. Saturday's game at Evansville is against RPI 82.
Iowa State (RPI 20) - The Cyclones' RPI jumped 30 spots after wins against Oklahoma State and at West Virginia. They'll have another chance to move up with a game at Baylor (RPI 25) and home against Kansas (RPI 2)
Xavier (RPI 36) - A win over Seton Hall and a loss at Butler raised the RPI 13 spots. That position should stay pretty solid with a game at #4 Villanova on Wednesday.
UCLA (RPI 73) - This might have been the team that helped Alabama the most last week. The Bruins snapped a five-game losing streak with wins over Stanford (RPI 40) and Cal (RPI 104). As a result, Alabama can claim another top 100 win. UCLA will try to keep the momentum going with two winnable road games this week (USC, Oregon State).
Arizona State (RPI 139) - The Sun Devils went 0-2 last week but the RPI didn't change much. With this being one of Alabama's best non-conference wins, Alabama fans need this team to stay as close to the top 100 as possible. There's a big opportunity to climb in the rankings this week with home games against Utah (RPI 9) and Colorado (RPI 64).
*Only top 150 teams will be included in this section.
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