Alabama basketball will enter postseason play with its highest ranking of the season. After capping off its regular season with wins over Auburn and Georgia last week, the Crimson Tide (21-6, 16-2 in the SEC) moved to No. 6 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 released Monday.
Alabama was ranked No. 6 two weeks ago before dropping down two spots last week. The ranking is the highest Alabama has climbed in the poll this season and marks its best ranking since Dec. 4, 2006, when it was No. 4. Alabama remained at No. 5 in the Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll, which is its highest ranking in that poll as well.
Alabama sits at No. 7 in the NET rankings used by the NCAA tournament selection committee. The Tide is currently 7-4 against Quadrant 1 opponents and 8-1 against Quadrant 2 teams.
Alabama enters the SEC tournament as the No. 1 seed and will begin play on Friday at 11 a.m. CT against the winner of Thursday’s game between No. 8 seed Kentucky and No. 9 seed Mississippi State. With the tournament taking place in Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, both potential matchups would be classified as Quadrant 2 games
After winning the SEC regular-season title for the first time since 2002, Alabama is now looking to claim its first SEC tournament championship since 1991.