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Alabama has been ranked in the top 10 of the NET for more than a month — at one point as high as No. 4 — thanks to, among other things, an incredibly efficient offense and lots of blowouts of bad teams.
But the résumé was lacking.
Through 18 games, the Crimson Tide had zero victories over teams currently ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 poll or even the top 35 at KenPom.com. They had four losses in Quadrant 1. They had two more losses in Quadrant 2. That’s why CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm had Alabama merely projected as a No. 5 seed for the 2024 NCAA Tournament entering this week, because the excellent computer numbers weren’t backed by a body of work filled with substance.
Alabama still needed a big win — and the Crimson Tide got it Wednesday night at home against their biggest rival. Final score: Alabama 79, Auburn 75. That registers as a Quad 1 win for the Crimson Tide, who are ranked No. 25 in Thursday morning’s updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings.
Auburn is down to No. 11.
“We missed some shots that you need to make to win against a really good team on the road,” said Auburn coach Bruce Pearl. “I don’t know that many teams are going to come in here and win in our league.”
It could be none.
Alabama has spent the past month going from a 6-5 team to 13-6 team thanks to a 7-1 record in the past eight games, with the lone loss in that stretch coming at Tennessee. The Crimson Tide are launching lots of threes and making 38.8% of them. It’s why they’re forever dangerous against anyone and now one of five SEC schools in the Top 25 And 1; the other four are No. 4 Tennessee, No. 11 Auburn, No. 19 Kentucky and No. 26 South Carolina.
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