TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Take a deep breath, Alabama basketball. And take a bow while you’re at it. The Crimson Tide capped off a gauntlet non-conference stretch Saturday night by slugging its way to an 83-75 win over Creighton.

Over the past 30 days, Alabama has gone 5-2 with three wins against teams inside the top 40 of the NET rankings. Five of the Tide’s matchups in the stretch currently hold Quad 1 distinction. Saturday’s matchup was the only one held inside Coleman Coliseum.

"I think it may be the toughest seven-game stretch of anybody in the country in non-conference," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said following Saturday's win. "We’ve scheduled pretty tough like this ever since I’ve been here. I think it’s the best way to prepare yourself for SEC play. So I think our guys will be ready.”

No. 7 Alabama (8-2) still has a trip to North Dakota and a pair of home games against Kent State and South Dakota State to close out its non-conference slate.

However, now that the Tide has survived the Murderers' Row portion of its early schedule, we’ll use this column to hand out a few superlatives before the team moves into SEC play. With that said, pour yourself a drink, and let’s dive in.