The Alabama men’s basketball team has been predicted to finish fourth in the SEC during the 2017-18 season in the preseason media poll, which was announced at SEC Media Day.

Mizzou picked 5th in preseason SEC poll pic.twitter.com/tsBLiqCriJ — Dave Matter (@Dave_Matter) October 18, 2017

The Crimson Tide was voted No. 4 behind top-ranked Kentucky, No. 2 Florida and No. 3 Texas A&M. The Missouri Tigers rounded out the top five with a fifth-place preseason ranking.

Last year, Alabama was voted to finish seventh. In 2015-16,the Tide was voted to finish 13th.

Alabama finished the 2016-17 season with a final record of 19-15 overall and 10-8 in SEC play. The Crimson Tide reached the National Invitation Tournament for the second straight time under head coach Avery Johnson and for the 15th time in program history.



Alabama’s fifth-place finish in the SEC a season ago was a five-spot improvement from ending league play in 10th-place last season. The five spot jump in the standings was second only to Florida’s six-spot improvement from last season. It was the Tide’s best finish in the SEC since closing the 2012-13 season in fourth overall.

This season, Alabama welcomes back its top four scorers and seven of the top eight scorers from last season's squad. Leading the list of returnees is SEC All-Freshman honoree Braxton Key, who led the team in scoring (12.0 ppg) and minutes (29.9 mpg).

In addition to the returning letterwinners, the Tide welcomed five freshmen who collectively made up the nation’s eighth-ranked recruiting class, according to the 247Sports Composite, including five-star point guard Collin Sexton.

On Wednesday, Sexton was named to the preseason All-SEC second team.

Michael Porter Jr. named to preseason All-SEC first team, tied with Yante Maten & Robert Williams for player of the year pic.twitter.com/s5cj4eNfWa — Dave Matter (@Dave_Matter) October 18, 2017

Alabama will hold an exhibition game against UAH on Monday, Nov. 6, in Tuscaloosa before opening its 2017-18 regular season against Memphis in Annapolis, Md., on Nov. 10.

Contact Charlie Potter by 247Sports' personal messaging or on Twitter (@Charlie_Potter).