Southeastern Conference play has arrived and No. 5 Alabama basketball will welcome one of the conference’s newcomers for its first matchup Saturday. The Crimson Tide (11-2) will take on No. 12 Oklahoma (13-0) in a matchup that throws the Tide right into the fire in conference play.

The Tide has a 3-4 record against the Sooners with the last matchup coming in 2011. The game will be played a lot more frequently with the Sooners now in the SEC and Alabama has the chance to even the series with a victory in the eighth all-time meeting.

Alabama has had plenty of ups going 5-2 in a run of seven games against high major teams during non-conference play. The Tide is firmly in the mix to contend for the SEC regular season title but still has some issues to iron out that were exposed against the strong schedule it faced ahead of SEC play.

Oklahoma will provide a great first test for Alabama to show some of those improvements. The Tide will need a consistent performance on both ends to defeat a well-coached Sooners team that has been one of the surprise packages in college basketball so far.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of Alabama’s first conference game of the season.

Who: No. 5 Alabama (11-2) vs. No. 12 Oklahoma (13-0)

When: 5 p.m. CT, Saturday, Jan. 4

Where: Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Watch: SEC Network (Play-By-Play: John Schriffin, Analyst: Richard Hendrix)

Listen: Crimson Tide Sports Network | SIRIUS/XM 134/201 (Play-By-Play: Chris Stewart, Analyst: Bryan Passink, Sideline: Roger Hoover)

Mark Sears: 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, graduate

Stats: 18.0 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 4.0 apg, 40.6% FG, 34.4% 3-pt

Labaron Philon: 6-foot-4, 177 pounds, freshman

Stats: 12.4 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 3.8 apg, 53.8% FG, 26.8% 3-pt

Jarin Stevenson: 6-foot-11, 215 pounds, sophomore

Stats: 4.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.0 apg, 33.3% FG, 20.5% 3-pt

Grant Nelson: 6-foot-11, 230 pounds, graduate

Stats: 13.2 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 1.8 apg, 57.0% FG, 27.0% 3-pt

Clifford Omoruyi: 6-foot-11, 250 pounds, graduate

Stats: 7.0 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 0.8 apg, 70.8% FG

Kobe Elvis: 6-foot-1, 180 pounds, graduate

Stats: 9.4 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 3.5 apg, 44.1% FG, 35.7% 3-pt

Duke Miles: 6-foot-2, 188 pounds, redshirt senior

Stats: 12.5 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 2.0 apg, 52.8% FG, 46.3% 3-pt

Jeremiah Fears: 6-foot-4, 182 pounds, freshman

Stats: 18.1 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 4.5 apg, 50.3% FG, 30.6% 3-pt

Jalon Moore: 6-foot-7, 215 pounds, senior

Stats: 17.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 0.5 apg, 50.3% FG, 38.1% 3-pt

Sam Godwin: 6-foot-10, 240 pounds, senior

Stats: 6.4 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 1.2 apg, 58.2% FG

Oklahoma’s start to the season has come as a surprise to many, but the Sooners' talent, especially on the offensive end is undeniable. Oklahoma ranks No. 40 in adjusted offensive efficiency and is No. 43 in the country in scoring. The Sooners are led by an elite shot-making duo in star freshman guard Jeremiah Fears (18.1 points per game) and senior forward Jalon Moore (17.7 ppg.)

“They’re doing much better than what people thought coming into the year,” Oats said. “They’ve got one of the better freshmen in the country in Fears. He’s the only player in the SEC that’s top five in both scoring and assists. So, we’ve got to do a great job on him defensively. They’ve got two players in the top 10 in scoring [in the SEC], I think the only school to have that with Fears and Moore.”

Fears in particular will be crucial for the Tide’s defense to slow down given how much of Oklahoma’s offense runs through the talented freshman. His scoring output is similar to Rutgers guard Dylan Harper, who dropped 37 points against Alabama in the Players Era tournament in November. Fears is only a 30.6% 3-point shooter, but like Harper, is excellent at getting to the rim and drawing fouls. Fears is also tenacious on the defensive end, averaging 2.2 steals per game.

The Sooners as a team have been strong on defense this season, particularly when it comes to defending the 3-pointer — an area where Alabama has struggled mightily. Oklahoma ranks No. 7 in the country in opponent 3-point percentage, with teams shooting just 27.1% from deep against its defense. The Sooners are far from the ideal team to face for an Alabama side looking to get right from deep.

“You can tell there’s a concerted effort not to give up open 3s and they do a good job with it and we’ve struggled to shoot the ball from 3 so that’s an area of concern for us, as many 3s as we want to take with them guarding the 3-point line so well,” Oats said. “So, we’re gonna obviously emphasize our guys getting in the lane a little bit if they’re flying out at us that hard. We don’t wanna shoot contested ones. So, if we’re seeing them fly out at us on a contest and they’re trained pretty well to play hard and contest 3s then we’ve gotta try to use that to our advantage and get into the paint.”

One wrinkle to Saturday’s game that could play into the Tide’s favor is its homecourt advantage. Not only is Alabama starting SEC play in familiar territory but the matchup will also be the first true road game for Oklahoma. The Sooners have five wins at neutral sites this season but are one of just four Division I teams that have not yet played a true road game.

Coleman Coliseum will undoubtedly give the Sooners a hostile welcome to the SEC and Oklahoma will be thrown into the fire for its first true road game. The Sooners do boast a pair of players familiar with playing in the state of Alabama, however, in Moore and third-leading scorer Duke Miles. Miles originally signed with Troy in the Class of 2020 out of Robert E. Lee High School in Montgomery, while Moore was a Georgia Tech signee in 2021 from Gardendale High School.

While a pair of Sooners have some familiarity with the state they’re returning to play in Saturday Alabama is also familiar with a player on the Sooners roster. Oklahoma center Mohamed Wague spent the 2023-24 season as a member of the Tide’s Final Four squad. Wague averaged 3.1 points and 2.5 rebounds in 8.5 minutes per game and is earning similar minutes for Oklahoma this season.

Though the Sooners don’t defend the paint exceptionally well, Oats called Wague their best rim protector and his former Alabama teammates are looking forward to matching up against him Saturday.

“That’s my guy,” Tide forward Mouhamed Diobuate said of Wague. “I can’t wait to play against him. He was one of my closest friends last year on the team and he’s a competitor just like I am. So I can’t wait to play against him.”

Alabama’s first opponent is perhaps the best embodiment of just how good the SEC has been this season. Oklahoma was picked to finish No. 15 in the conference preseason poll. Fast forward to the start of league play and the Sooners are one of just three undefeated Division I teams. The other two, Florida and Tennessee are both SEC programs. The league as a whole went a combined 174-23 in out-of-conference games.

“Even teams that may have been picked at the bottom are winning a lot of games,” Oats said. “So to almost have a 90% conference winning percentage, that’s tough. It’s gonna be a tough league. So, a lot of games in there. I think there’s gonna be a lot of competition for who’s gonna win the league all the way up until the end. I think it’s gonna be hard for anybody to run away with it because there’s just no easy games in the league this year.”

Oats knows a thing or two about separating his side from the pack in the SEC. He’s won a pair of regular season titles during his first five seasons in Tuscaloosa, first capturing the crown in 2021 and again in 2023. Alabama went 16-2 in both seasons.

As Oats illustrated, it will be tremendously difficult for Alabama or any team to replicate that kind of dominant form with how strong the SEC has shaped up to be from top to bottom. But having won the league before, Oats understands that getting off to a strong start is critical for long-term success with not only a title but a top-four seed in the SEC tournament and an NCAA Tournament resumé to play for.

“This is our sixth season that we’ve been here starting the SEC,” Oats said. “We’ve done a pretty good job most years in conference play, but we’ve gotta start the conference out well. The two years we won the regular season, we started out pretty good in the first half of conference play. This is a tough one to start with, but if you’re gonna have a chance to win the conference you gotta win your home games. So, this is a home game that we’ve gotta take care of and we gotta find a way to get our defense improved, to get better shots on offense, to take care of the ball on offense and figure out a way to come out with a win here if we’re gonna have a chance to compete for the league here.”

For the first time under head coach Nate Oats and first time since the 2011-12 season, Alabama has won 11 games during its non-conference schedule

Alabama is 4-1 in SEC openers under coach Oats including a four-game winning streak

During Oats' tenure Alabama is 37-8 at Coleman Coliseum against SEC opponents including two perfect 9-0 records during the 2022-23 season and the 2020-2021 season

Since arriving to Tuscaloosa in 2019-20, Alabama is tied with Kentucky for a league-best 62 wins during SEC play

Alabama's non-conference opponents posted a winning percentage of .701, which ranks as the ninth-highest winning percentage in the country

Mark Sears is the 39th player in Division I history to have 57 career games scoring 20 points or more

Labaron Philon joins Dylan Harper (Rutgers) as the only two freshmen in Division I to record at least 21 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds in a single game this season

Since the 2020-2021 season, Alabama has made 15 3-pointers in 22 contests, which ranks first in Division I

The Crimson Tide's three AP Top-25 wins ties for the most wins in non-conference play under head coach Nate Oats, matching the 2022-23 season

Alabama is looking to win four straight AP Top-25 matchups for the first time since the 2017-18 season (won five straight)

Coach Oats has 21 AP Top-25 wins during his tenure at UA, which ranks third all-time in the program's history behind Mark Gottfried (22 wins) and Wimp Sanderson (25 wins)

Alabama has scored 100 points or more in 92 games in program history, with Coach Oats' teams accounting for 26 percent of that number (24 games)

Coach Oats' 117 wins across his first five seasons at Alabama stands as the most wins in a five-year span in program history