re: tOfficial Alabama Basketball Season Thread | 19-15 (10-8) | #BuckleUp

Seems like RPI is becoming less of a factor in the decision making process

I imagine there were a lot of teams with better RPIs than Vandy that didn't get in last year

I remember people being surprised that Vandy made it. I know I was.

Last I heard was that he would start working out soon but his availability for the rest of the year was still uncertain.

NCAA tournament bubble team: SEC will struggle to put in more than 3 teams in the tournament.

There's not really a big breakdown in of SEC in this article - and rightfully so in my opinion - but it's a good breakdown on the bubble teams around CBB. I liked it, but I don't know if a lot of you will.

The SEC is simply too bad of a conference right now. Auburn, Tennessee, Mississippi State, and Alabama all seem to be headed int he right directions with good hires last year, so that's the good news. I think our tournament chances are done for, even if we get victories over both Arkansas and South Carolina. The committee looks at signature wins in conference and out of conference. RPI does play a role in some of their selections, but not really much. Alabama simply blew their chances against Dayton, Texas, Valpo (who btw is now 16-4 with two of their losses coming to Oregon and Kentucky), and Clemson. Hopefully we get a decent seed in the NIT and start working for a better season next year.

Doubt there will also be any more critics of Key now. In the last 5 games, he's averaging 17.2 PPG (including scoring above 15 points in 3 of those games), shooting 42% from the field, 40% from beyond the arc, and has 34 rebounds (6.8 per game). His main issue right now is turnovers (as it is for the entire team), but this guy continues to grow and is becoming a more vital role in this offense.

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the last 5 games, he's averaging 17.2 PPG

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I did that research for nothing

The OOC tournament we were in was really bad, and it hurt us.

Last year's tournament had Xavier, Wichita State, USC, Notre Dame, Monmouth, Iowa, and Dayton. I'll take that every time over St. Louis, Valpo, and BYU

Ok but just imagine, and I know this is a huge leap of faith, what do we look like if we manage to beat both USCe and Kentucky? Both of those wins are probably worth a 20 spot bump in RPI separately. Together, probably, 30-35 spots. If we do that and get hot down the stretch like we did last year, get to the SEC Semis at least, and we have to be in the conversation.

Not gonna happen, but with the slow start, lack of talent/youth, I'm pleasantly surprised you can draw a road map from here to the Dance however improbable.