The Alabama men's basketball team is in full desperation mode after falling to Vanderbilt 76-68 at home last Saturday.  Any postseason goals could be all but done if the Tide lose to Auburn tonight.  The last time Alabama played the Tigers, they won by two points at home.  Auburn, under the guide of first-year head coach Bruce Pearl, is steadily improving and coming off a big upset win at Georgia.  There will be a acked house on the Plains, and the crowd will certainly be the most hostile the Tide has seen all year (even worse than Rupp).

To make matters worse, Alabama will still be without junior guard Ricky Tarrant for this game.  Tarrant has missed the better part of a month now with a leg injury and is still listed as being out "indefinitely".  At this point, it is unknown if we will see him anymore this season.  Tarrant, a transfer from Tulane, has been a spark on offense for the Tide this season.  Since his injury though, old problems have continued to plague the Alabama attack, and the Tide's offense has been stagnant at best.

Alabama currently sits at 15-10 overall and 5-7 in conference.  They are currently tied for 8th in the SEC with Florida and Mississippi State.  If there's any consolation at this point, it's that the schedule is very winnable the rest of the way for the Tide.  But the damage may have already been done.  It's hard to see this team being a part of March Madness unless they win the SEC Tournament, which would probably require an upset of historic ramifications over Kentucky, provided they get that opportunity to begin with.  But, there's always a chance, and it begins tonight at Auburn.

Tonight's game will be broadcast on television at 8 pm CT on ESPNU.  Crimson Tide Sports Network will have Chris Stewart on the call, which you can hear on our sister station 95.3 FM The Bear.

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