Rising Tide: Alabama Earns Boost in Key Metrics After Blowout Win

The No. 2 Alabama Crimson Tide (19-3, 9-0) got back on track on Tuesday night with a dominant win over the unranked Vanderbilt Commodores (10-12, 3-6) in Coleman Coliseum 101-44. Alabama's offensive rebounding and success from beyond the arc moved the Tide up in the analytics department following the game.

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KenPom.com, an advanced analytics program based on resume and record, updates its list of ordered teams at the end of each recorded contest.

Before Tuesday night's matchup against the Commodores, the Tide ranked No. 5 in KenPom following a slight drop down after Saturday's 93-69 loss to Oklahoma. Alabama entered the contest with Vanderbilt holding an adjusted efficiency margin of +25.10 before defeating the Commodores by a school record margin in an SEC game 57 points.

The Tide improved to +26.35 and are now ranked No. 4 in KenPom as of Wednesday afternoon.

Sony Moore's Computer Power Rankings is a program similar in style to KenPom that also releases its updated ratings list at the end of each night. The Moore ratings place a significant emphasis on strength of schedule, while also projecting the average margin of victory a particular team will have based on home-court advantage.

The Sony Moore ratings bumped Alabama up to No. 3 in the nation at the conclusion of Tuesday's action with a 96.32 performance rating.

The NCAA Evaluation Tool system also updates at the end of each night following the conclusion of the final scheduled game.

(The NCAA Evaluation Tool 'NET' has two components: the Team Value Index, which is based on game results and factors the result, the game location and outcome. The other component is net efficiency (offensive efficiency minus defensive efficiency), which is adjusted to account for the strength of the opponent and the location of the game.)

NET rankings have Alabama up to No. 3 in the country, climbing from the No. 4 overall spot entering the night.

Of note, the Tide is unbeaten in Q2, Q3 and Q4 games, while still maintaining a 6-3 record in Q1 contests.

The 24-point loss to Oklahoma Saturday goes in the books as a Q1 result, with it being a road contest against a Top 75 team. For reference, a Q1 contest is defined as a matchup with a Top 30 team at home, a Top 50 team on a neutral court and a Top 75 team away.

While little overall movement took place for Alabama in rankings, Tuesday's win did go a long way in maintaining the lead atop the SEC and improving combined efficiency metrics.

This far along into the season it becomes more difficult to improve one's overall efficiency rating or NET status, as a wider sample of data is collected on team's across the country.

For Alabama to have already re-gained the progress it made with the computers entering the Oklahoma game, it just goes to show how special this year's team can be. When the Tide are playing its best basketball, there might not be a team that can beat them.

Spirits are high again in Tuscaloosa. As referenced before tip-off, everything left to accomplish is within reach for this Alabama team.

The Tide will turn its attention to rival LSU on the bayou Saturday. The team looks to reach double digit wins in conference play and extend its regular season SEC lead.

Check in each week with Tide 100.9 FM as we continue coverage of this exciting college basketball season.