Alabama just knocked off Tennessee 65-60.
In overtime.
In Tennessee.
Meaning that, as of today, the Crimson Tide is sitting at 7-1 in SEC play and all alone in first place in the SEC. Not the SEC West. The entire SEC. And if Florida loses to Kentucky tonight, the Tide will have a two game lead on both the Vols and the Gators.
That's crazy, considering Alabama's low expectations for the season were lowered during non-conference play. They went 8-6. They lost to Iowa, Seton Hall, Providence, Oklahoma State, and St. Peter's, who played without one of their best players.
Crazier?
Alabama could legitimately win the SEC regular season outright and not make the NCAA Tournament.
Don't believe me?
Right now, the Tide has two good wins. They beat Kentucky at home and Tennessee on the road. But for a team that is 15-7 on the season, that doesn't outweigh the number of bad losses they had earlier in the year.
The rest of Alabama's schedule looks like this:
Let's say that Alabama wins all of their remaining games against the SEC West and loses all three games against the SEC East. That puts them at 20-10 overall and 12-4 in the SEC. That would probably be enough to earn them at least a share of the SEC regular season title, if not winning it outright.
Alabama is currently 114th in the RPI. They have five losses to teams that are ranked 90th or lower. That wouldn't be enough to earn them a bid, and a run in the SEC Tournament may not be enough to help, either.
I can't predict the future. I don't know what Alabama is going to do down the stretch, I can only guess at what has happened thus far this season. They might win all eight of their remaining games. They may lose all eight. This season, neither would surprise me.
But if the NCAA Tournament started tomorrow, Alabama would be the SEC champion and would not be getting an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. That, my friends, is wild.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
The Curious Case of an Alabama SEC title |
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