Alabama’s Cupcakes
Look out Tom Izzo, there is a new king of scheduling in NCAA basketball. Alabama has not made the NCAA Tournament since 2006 and finally has the weapons to do it in 2012, but Coach Anthony Grant has scheduled a brutal slate of games that would make any fan proud.
Maybe any game sounds pretty good to die-hard basketball fans right now, but there are really only three easy games on Alabama’s schedule…with all due respect to North Florida, Alabama A&M and Jacksonville. Beside those three, the Crimson Tide could be in for a tough battle every game. At the least they have to show up. Oakland and Detroit may not sound like great opposition, but both will make some serious noise in the Summit League and Horizon League, respectively. Other teams that are coming to Tuscaloosa are VCU and Georgetown. Those two will be battling for an NCAA Tournament berth. The Tide also “hosts” Oklahoma State in Birmingham. There are only a couple true road games, but both are tricky. Bama heads to Dayton to take on the Flyers in early December and wraps up non-conference play with a trip to Georgia Tech. Coach Grant and company will also face Kansas State in Kansas City.
Find the easy game out of that slate, especially for a team that has to rely on a lot of freshmen. Alabama also heads to Puerto Rico for what is developing into one of the more interesting early season tournaments. The Puerto Rico Tip-Off matches Bama with Maryland in the first round. This may not be your older brother’s Maryland team, but it’s still Maryland. Then the Tide would play the winner of the Colorado and Wichita State game. Either way, it’s a good game. After that, Alabama will likely face either Purdue or Temple. The other side of the bracket also includes Western Michigan and a very, very good Iona team. So no matter how you slice it, Coach Grant is going to have three difficult contests for his young team in November. And it does not get any easier after that. If Alabama does make the NCAA Tournament, there will be little doubt that they have earned it.
Read the in-depth men’s basketball preview for this team
