With just eight games remaining in the SEC schedule for Nate Oats and the Alabama Crimson Tide men’s basketball team, the Tide find themselves in a logjam at the top of the conference standings.
Currently, Alabama, Auburn, and South Carolina each are tied at the top with 8-2 records within the SEC. Tennessee is nipping on the heels with a 7-2 record.
The SEC has quickly become one of the most competitive conferences in college basketball and several teams still have an opportunity to take home the title of SEC regular season champ.
As February quickly passes by, the season is dwindling and the staff at Roll Tide Wire has offered up their predictions for how the season will end for Coach Oats and Alabama.
Stacey Blackwood
Predicted record over final eight games: 6-2
Alabama has a lot of difficult matchups down the stretch. Oats and the Tide will make trips to LSU, Kentucky, Ole Miss, and Florida. Just splitting those games would be good for the Tide, in my opinion, but Alabama is more than capable of winning all four. Kentucky may not be your grandpa’s Wildcats, but they are still talented, and winning in Lexington is no easy feat.
Aside from a tough road schedule, Alabama will also host Texas A&M, Flordia, Tennessee, and Arkansas. The Tide should hold serve at home, but hosting the Vols will be a challenge. Tennessee is one of the most physical teams in the country and that is not a strength of this version of the Crimson Tide.
AJ Spurr
Predicted record over final eight games: 6-2
When Alabama is hot, the team is unstoppable. However, when they’re off, it can get ugly fast. Two big games coming up are against Tennessee and Kentucky. With the high level of play both teams have consistently been at this season, I just don’t know if I can trust the Tide at this point in time. They could always prove me wrong, but as things stand, I have those two games resulting in losses.
Brody Smoot
Predicted record over final eight games: 6-2
Alabama has shown that they they are capable of winning at home. Road games are a different story for the Crimson Tide this season. Alabama has suffered its two conference losses on the road this season to Tennessee and Auburn. With four road games remaining, I would expect Alabama to drop one of them. More than likely, it will come against Kentucky. Tennessee will be a tall task for Alabama at home. Outside of those two games, I expect Alabama to win the remainder of the games. I still think that 14-4 puts Alabama in a position to finish top-2 in the SEC in the regular season.
Sam Murphy
Predicted record over final eight games: 6-2
Dropping games to their two biggest rivals in Auburn and Tennessee hurts, but they still share a lead in the SEC. With a home matchup against Tennessee and a trip to Lexington looming in the future, the Tide have some issues on the defensive end they will need to clean up. Turnovers were also a big problem Wednesday evening and something that could come back to haunt the Tide against the top teams in the league.
Final Record: 22-9 (14-4 SEC)
Final Thoughts:
If Alabama can play consistent defense, this team could run the table and finish as good as 16-2 in the SEC, but for some reason, the defense seems to struggle, especially on the road. Mark Sears has been tremendous on the offensive end of the floor all season for the Tide, but even Coach Oats mentioned that he has to be better defensively, as does the entire team.
Alabama is more than capable of winning the SEC regular season title, but with a challenging schedule down the stretch, it will require this team’s best effort night in and night out.
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