Alabama basketball’s Quadrant 2 win over Ole Miss on Saturday certainly improved its NCAA Tournament odds. However, the Crimson Tide still has a lot of work left to do in order to improve its resume before the end of the regular season. Heading into the week, Alabama (15-12, 7-7 in the SEC) ranks No. 40 in the NET rankings and has the No. 19 strength of schedule, according to WarrenNolan.com. The Crimson Tide is 2-6 in Quadrant 1 games but will need Auburn and LSU to finish the season in the top 30 of the NET rankings to ensure those two home victories keep their top-tier status. Auburn currently has a No. 28 NET ranking while LSU sits right at the border at No. 30. Alabama will have a chance to add another Quadrant 1 win this week as it travels to Mississippi State on Tuesday at 8 p.m. CT. The Crimson Tide will return to Coleman Coliseum on Saturday to face a fellow NCAA Tournament bubble team in South Carolina on Saturday. Here are some things to watch for this week as Alabama looks to keep its tournament hopes alive.

Alabama Crimson Tide guard Jaden Shackelford. Photo | Alabama Athletics

Bracketology

Alabama is currently the third team listed in ESPN analyst Joe Lunardi’s “Next Four Out” in regards to his projected NCAA Tournament bracket. That means he believes there are six teams ahead of Crimson Tide on the waiting list to get into the Big Dance. Fortunately for Alabama, it beat two of those teams — Richmond and Mississippi State — earlier this season. The Crimson Tide will have the chance to complete a regular-season sweep over Mississippi State, which is listed as the last of the “First Four Out” on Lunardi’s list. Richmond is the first team listed on the “First Four Out” but lost to Alabama 90-78 in Tuscaloosa, Ala., in December. While head-to-head isn’t one of the core criteria listed in the determining process, it might be hard to ignore if things get close between the two teams.

A further look at teams on the bubble

Lunardi lists a total of 16 teams “on the bubble.” Here’s a look at how each of them stacks up against each other. Last Four Byes — Indiana (18-9): NET (52), SOS (45), Quad 1(6-7) Quad 2 (2-2) — Xavier (17-10): NET (44), SOS (8), Quad 1 (3-9), Quad 2 (6-1) — Wichita State (20-7): NET (43), SOS (84), Quad 1 (2-4), Quad 2 (6-3) — Utah State (20-7): NET (38), SOS (99), Quad 1 (2-4), Quad 2 (2-2) Last Four In — Oklahoma (16-11): NET (55), SOS (21), Quad 1 (3-9,) Quad 2 (5-2) — Southern California (19-9): NET (47), SOS (58), Quad 1 (2-7), Quad 2 (6-1) — Providence (16-12): NET (48), SOS (15), Quad 1 (7-8), Quad 2 (3-0) — N.C. State (17-10): NET (53), SOS (57), Quad 1 (5-4), Quad 2 (4-3) First Four Out — Richmond (20-7): NET (49), SOS (81), Quad 1 (2-4), Quad 2 (2-2) — Stanford (18-9): NET (31), SOS (88), Quad 1 (2-5), Quad 2 (4-3) — UCLA (16-11): NET (76), SOS (68), Quad 1 (5-5), Quad 2 (2-4) — Mississippi State (17-10): NET (57), SOS (50), Quad 1 (2-6), Quad 2 (3-2) Next Four Out — Memphis (19-8): NET (61), SOS (89), Quad 1 (2-4), Quad 2 (5-1) — Georgetown (15-12): NET (59), SOS (12), Quad 1 (4-10), Quad 2 ( 5-2) — Alabama (15-12): NET (40), SOS (19), Quad 1 (2-6), Quad 2 (4-4) — South Carolina (16-11): NET (63), SOS (64), Quad 1 (4-7), Quad 2 (3-2)

What’s coming up for Alabama

The game against Mississippi State is crucial as it will be Alabama’s last chance to secure a Quadrant 1 victory before the SEC Tournament. The Bulldogs sit at No. 57 in the NET rankings but should be able to stay inside the top 75 even with a loss to the Crimson Tide, meaning the road victory would remain a Quadrant 1 win. Alabama walloped Mississippi State in Coleman Coliseum earlier this season, shooting 49.1 percent from the floor in a 21-point win. Things should be a bit more difficult inside Humphrey Coliseum where the Bulldogs are 12-2 this season. Alabama’s home matchup against South Carolina on Saturday will prove crucial for different reasons as the loser could see its NCAA Tournament bubble burst. The Gamecocks are currently on a two-game losing streak but host a winnable game against Georgia on Wednesday which could spark some momentum heading into the end of the week.

What Alabama has to do moving forward

Ideally, Alabama would finish the rest of the regular season 4-0, which would most likely lock up a tournament spot before the Crimson Tide reaches the SEC Tournament. Assuming Alabama secures its Quadrant 1 victory in Starkville, Miss., on Tuesday and Auburn and LSU both remain in the top 30 of the NET rankings, the Crimson Tide could probably get by with dropping one of its three remaining regular-season games. Alabama would still likely need a win in the SEC Tournament to put itself at ease on Selection Sunday. Before the victory at Ole Miss over the weekend, Alabama basketball coach Nate Oats predicted that his team would have to finish at least 4-1 over its final five games. Even then, he said he’s taking things one game at a time moving forward. “I told my guys, I’m done talking about the NCAA Tournament to them at this point,” Oats said. "You try to give them a goal — some light at the end of the tunnel, some hope — but at this point, we just need to concentrate on every day. "I’m not even gonna mention who comes next to our players — and we haven’t really done that all year — but let’s just concentrate on what we have to do today to get better at practice. Then tomorrow what we have to do, then one game, then the next day, then the next day, then the next game, then the next day. We’ll get two and a half weeks from now and see where we’re at. Shoot, even at that point, you’ve got to take it one game at a time in the SEC Tournament and see what your seed is, and do what you can do up there.”

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Andrew Bone, of BamaInsider.com, is a real estate broker in the state of Alabama.

Contact Andrew Bone for all of your real estate needs; buyers, sellers, investors, developers. Property management; BoneHomeTours.com Call 205-531-5577 or click here

