TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Being the No. 1 team in the country can be a heavy burden to bear.
Just ask the 2002 Alabama Crimson Tide who after going 9-0 to begin the season was ranked the top team in college basketball. Although a loss to Utah disrupted the team’s unbeaten streak, Alabama was still on top of the college basketball world thanks to a win over Xavier to kick off 2003.
After that win, however, the hype became an anchor as Alabama plummeted down the rankings, finishing the year unranked thanks to an 8-12 second half of the season.
Twenty years later, the Crimson Tide is hoping to not fall into old habits as it takes its No. 1 ranking and its undefeated conference record to Knoxville to face No. 10 Tennessee.
“No. 1 in the country on Feb. 14 doesn’t really mean anything other than the fact that you’re playing pretty good basketball at this stage,” Alabama head coach Nate Oats said. “You need to be playing pretty good basketball seven weeks from now is the goal. That's what we're talking to our guys about. No. 1 has nothing to do with any of the goals that we set up at the beginning of the year, other than it's made the bullseye a lot bigger on our back going everywhere else.”
When asked if he’s used the downfall of the 2002-03 team as a cautionary tale for this year’s squad, Oats said he didn’t need to, citing North Carolina’s tumble down the polls after Alabama beat the Tar Heels 103-101 at the Phil Knight Invitational.
A mere 11 weeks later, the roles are reversed for Alabama. The once-underdogs against the Tar Heels will now be expected to win against a Tennessee desperate for a victory. The Volunteers have lost three of their last four games including back-to-back buzzer-beaters at the hands of Vanderbilt and Missouri.
As a result, Oats called Wednesday’s game a “maturity test.”
“Tennessee is a good enough team, we could play really hard and still lose the game,” Oats said. “They’re good. Let’s not act like if we lose it, we didn’t come ready to play, but there’s no chance we’re gonna win the game if we don’t come ready to play.”
Despite the losses, Tennessee has the best defense in the country as it is ranked No. 1 in defensive efficiency according to KenPom. The Volunteers have allowed 86.6 points per 100 possessions this season which helped them to win six of their last seven games against AP top-10 opponents.
“They've been top five, top 10 in the country seems like more often than not. They've established themselves as one of the best teams in the SEC every year in and year out. It's no different this year. They’ve got a really talented group. They're playing super hard on defense. Offensively, they get talented guys that are more than capable of making shots. … We’ve got our hands full.”
