Alabama basketball is playing with a target on its back. The Crimson Tide nearly fell victim to its own complacency in an 85-81 win over Arkansas on Saturday. It has another tricky test away from home against Texas on Tuesday night.

Yet most of the talk outside the program isn’t focused on the 15-9 Longhorns but on Alabama’s looming clash against No. 1 Auburn on Saturday. Alabama jumped to No. 2 in the latest Associated Press Poll, while the Tigers stayed put at No. 1, giving an extra layer of magnitude to an already highly-anticipated game.

Saturday’s game will be the first-ever SEC matchup between the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the conference’s history. Those historic implications create a challenge for Alabama coach Nate Oats. For a second straight game, he’s trying to keep his team locked into the matchup in front of them.

“Like I said after the [Arkansas] game it doesn’t really matter to me,” Oats said of Alabama’s ranking. “But it does tend to get other fan bases more hyped up, more ready to go. It puts a target on our back the higher the rankings go. It’s nice for our fans to be ranked. As far as us internally, it should have zero effect on anything we do.”

Oats has the two-fold challenge of blocking the outside noise and getting his team prepared without heading back to Tuscaloosa. Alabama stayed on the road after the Arkansas game and arrived late to Austin, Texas after a few travel delays. However, Oats said the decision to not go back to campus between games has cut down on some of the wear and tear that has been nipping at his team throughout conference play.

“Guys are getting caught up on their rest,” Oats said. “We just had voluntary shooting yesterday. We did a lot of film study yesterday and then today we had practice this morning. I thought it went pretty well. I thought guys looked like they had some pop. So our legs should be fresh for the game tomorrow night.”

Perhaps it is better for the teams to be over 700 miles away from campus given the buzz surrounding Saturday’s game. It’s inevitable that some outside noise will filter in, but luckily for Oats, he has one of the best examples to turn to when it comes to knowing how to win in legendary Alabama football coach Nick Saban.

“I showed a clip of Saban talking to Pat McAfee about how these coaches call him and ask him what he does different for a national championship,” Oats said. “Almost looks at them, like kind of a stupid question. You just had a big game last week we were getting ready for, a big game before. Just do what we do. Stay locked in. Obviously not letting rankings go to our head. That would be stupid.”

Alabama didn't stay locked in and just managed to avoid disaster at the hands of Arkansas on Saturday. The Razorbacks 18-point second-half comeback showed why Alabama cannot afford to overlook any team in the SEC, even with an even bigger game upcoming against its archrival.

Oats again turned to football to further drive the point home about strong preparation. He said he showed the team some strategies used by seven-time Super Bowl Champion quarterback Tom Brady, highlighting what consistent high-level preparation looks like, no matter the opponent.

Alabama’s ranking won’t change no matter the result of Tuesday’s game. But if the team wants to keep the same hype currently surrounding the IBOB, it has to take care of business against a Longhorns team hungry for a win after two straight defeats.

“You can’t all of a sudden turn up your preparation for a big game if you will,” Oats said. “That’s asking for disaster. It’s showing your immaturity. We’ve got a lot of fifth-year seniors. We should not be immature. We should be prepping for Texas like we’re prepping for Auburn — like we’re prepping for an NCAA Tournament game. So when we get to the NCAA Tournament, when we get to the SEC Tournament, when we get to these so-called big games, we’ve already been prepping for every game like it's a big game.

“So, that’s what we’ve been trying to tell our guys and I hope they’re mature enough to understand that and I think they are.”

Alabama will face Texas at 8 p.m. CT Tuesday inside the Moody Center. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.