Alabama has completed the first stage of its schedule and Wednesday night serves as the beginning of the team's next chapter – conference play.
The Crimson Tide will travel to Starkville and face No. 21 Mississippi State, marking the team's second-ranked road matchup this season.
With tip-off looming, here's everything you need to know as the Crimson Tide squares off with the Bulldogs.
How to watch
Who: No. 21 Mississippi State (11-1) vs. No. 8 Alabama (10-2)
When: 8 p.m. CT, Wednesday, Dec. 28
Where: Humphrey Coliseum, Starkville, Miss.
Watch: SEC Network (play-by-play: Paul Sutherland; analyst: Pat Bradley)
Listen: Crimson Tide Sports Network (play-by-play: Chris Stewart; analyst: Bryan Passink; engineer Tom Stipe)
Alabama projected starting lineup
Jaden Bradley: 6-foot-3, 185 pounds, freshman
Stats: 8.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 3.6 apg, 47.4% FG, 50.0% 3-pt
Mark Sears: 6-foot-1, 185 pounds, junior
Stats: 14.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 2.8 apg, 43.2% FG, 41.3% 3-pt
Brandon Miller: 6-foot-9, 200 pounds, freshman
Stats: 19.3 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 2.0 apg, 41.6% FG, 44.2% 3-pt
Noah Clowney: 6-foot-10, 210 pounds, freshman
Stats: 9.5 ppg, 8.8, rpg, 0.9 apg, 51.4% FG, 27.8% 3-pt
Charles Bediako: 7-foot, 225 pounds, sophomore
Stats: 5.4 ppg, 6.6, rpg, 0.6 apg, 65.8% FG
Mississippi State projected starting lineup
Dashawn Davis: 6-foot-2, 195 pounds, senior
Stats: 9.2 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 2.8 apg, 49.1% FG, 57.9% 3-pt
Eric Reed Jr.: 6-foot-2, 200 pounds, senior
Stats: 6.3 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 1.1 apg, 34.7% FG, 21.2% 3-pt
D.J. Jeffries: 6-foot-7, 225 pounds, senior
Stats: 9.6 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 2.3 apg, 35.9% FG, 30.6% 3-pt
Cameron Matthews: 6-foot-7, 225 pounds, junior
Stats: 6.9 ppg, 4.9, rpg, 2.4 apg, 48.4% FG, 18.2% 3-pt
Tolu Smith: 6-foot-11, 245 pounds, senior
Stats: 15.6 ppg, 8.7, rpg, 1.8 apg, 62.2% FG
First conference test
Wednesday's matchup between the two SEC West foes serves as the country's lone AP Top 25 matchup.
Mississippi State raced out to an 11-1 record picking up wins against Marquette and Utah during its non-conference slate. While the schedule wasn't as daunting as Alabama's start, head coach Nate Oats said he wasn't surprised with the Bulldogs' torrid start.
"Mississippi State is about where I thought they would be, to be honest with you," Oats said. "I was in the MAC with Coach (Chris) Jans. His teams played at Bowling Green and he's to his team playing really hard now. That's what he does. They are No. 1 in defensive points per game in the SEC and I think third nationally. They are going to guard and our offense is going to have to do a better job of not turning the ball over."
The Bulldogs currently sport the No. 5 adjusted defensive efficiency according to the Ken Pom rankings. Their mark of 87.8 leads the SEC as Alabama sits fourth in the conference with a 90.7. The Crimson Tide will serve as Mississippi State's most explosive offensive test of the season as it sports a 113.0 offensive efficiency, good for 20th in the nation.
"SEC play is here and we are excited for it," Oats said. "You play all of the non-conference games to get ready for conference play."
Stopping Smith
In its second-consecutive game, Alabama will be tasked with stopping a dynamic center.
Mississippi State's Tolu Smith leads the team in scoring averaging 15.6 points per game along with 8.7 rebounds per game. Smith is the team's lone player who averages double digits, but D.J. Jefferies and Dashawn Davis are both averaging more than nine points per game so far.
Oats compared Smith's impact on the team's offense to how Drew Timme operates in Gonzaga's system. With the ball going into the paint, Timme tore up Alabama's defense recording 29 points and 10 rebounds in 29 minutes of play.
"We have to have a good plan for Tolu," Oats said. "Obviously the last good big we played was Timme and he kind of had his way with us. Tolu concerns us. Charles (Bediako) has to do a better job individually and we have to do a better job as a team in making it difficult to get the ball into him. He's got some great shooters around him that we're also going to be aware of."
Welch, Clowney updates
Alabama may get as close to full strength in weeks.
On Tuesday, Oats gave an update on Noah Clowney (illness) and Dom Welch (calf) who missed the Crimson Tide's final home game in 2022.
"Dom was able to get a workout in last night, practiced with the team today," Oats said. "He's still dealing with the calf strain so he didn't go through the full practice today, he went through parts of it to see how he felt. We're going to see how he feels tomorrow, go through shoot around and then make a determination. If he does play tomorrow it will be on a minute restriction but it'll be nice to get him back."
Welch has been sidelined since the beginning of the season with a nagging calf injury as the St. Bonaventure transfer still looking for his first game action with his new team. While as a member of the Bonnies he shot 37.4% from 3-point range while averaging 10.9 points and 5.9 rebounds a game.
As for Clowney, Oats said he was back at practice this week noting the team "eased him back in" coming off of the illness.
"He's getting his strength back, putting some weight back on, he lost some weight with the illness," Oats said. "He's back, he's practicing, he was full go today. We didn't limit him with anything today."
Game Notes
–Alabama (10-2, 0-0 SEC) has won 10 non-conference games for the first time since the 2014-15 season
–UA enters SEC play ranked No. 8 in the AP Top 25 Poll, the highest ranking entering conference play since the 2002-03 season (Ranked No. 4)
–The Crimson Tide is 3-2 against AP Top-25 opponents this season, defeating then-No. 12 Michigan State (Nov. 24), then-No. 1 North Carolina (Nov. 27) and then-No. 1 Houston (Dec. 10)
–Alabama's three ranked wins before the New Year is a school record, bettering its previous high when it defeated two ranked teams in 2015 (knocked off then-No. 17 Notre Dame and then-No. 20 Wichita State)
–Alabama is the first team since 1965-66 (Duke) with multiple wins over the AP No. 1 team before the New Year
–Brandon Miller is averaging 19.3 points per game, the most by any freshman in the country and No. 34 overall
–Miller is the only freshman in the country to rank in the top 50 in points per game (No. 34) and rebounds per game (No. 48)
–Miller is one of 11 players in Division I and the only player in the SEC that has scored 230 points and record 100 rebounds this season
–Noah Clowney ranks No. 44 in the country at 8.8 rebounds per game, which is third-best among freshmen in the country
–Alabama ranks No. 1 in the country in rebounds per game (47.5), defensive rebounds per game (32.7), No. 4 in offensive rebounds per game (14.8) and ranks No. 3 in rebound margin (+11.2)
–Alabama is one of two teams (Arizona) to have two players rank in the Top 50 in the country in rebounds per game with Clowney ranks No. 44 with 8.8 per game and Miller ranks No. 48 (8.7)
