Alabama basketball moves up in national polls following perfect start to season

[Tony_Tsoukalas]

Alabama basketball has been rewarded for its hot start to the season. After jumping out to a 4-0 start this year, the Crimson Tide moved up to a tie for 10th place in the Associated Press Top 25 while taking the No. 9 spot in the Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll on Monday.

Gonzaga took the top spot in both polls, earning 55 first-place votes in the AP Top 25 as well as 30 first-place votes in the coaches poll.

Alabama has yet to play a ranked team this season. However, there are plenty of big-time opponents coming up on the Tide’s schedule. There are six SEC teams included in Monday’s polls. The AP Top 25 features No. 10 Alabama and Kentucky (tied) as well as No. 13 Arkansas, No. 15 Tennessee, No. 19 Auburn and No. 23 Florida. The coaches poll includes No. 9 Alabama, No. 12 Arkansas, No. 13 Kentucky, No. 17 Tennessee, No. 22 Auburn and No. 24 Florida.

Other ranked teams on Alabama’s schedule include No. 1 Gonzaga, No. 6/5 Baylor, No. 9/10 Memphis and No. 12/11 Houston.

Alabama will look to build on its early success this week as it travels to Orlando, Fla., to participate in the ESPN Events Invitational. The Tide’s first game in the tournament will be on Thursday at 4 p.m. against Iona. From there it will play either Belmont or Drake on Friday. Depending on how the tournament shakes out, Alabama could have a top-10 matchup with No. 4 Kansas on Sunday.

LINK TO POLLS

 

[onebamamaniax]

Sure would like to see that Kansas match-up! Would be a great measuring stick going into those other top 15 games.

 

[StablerCountry]

I think anything less than a Sunday matchup with Kansas in this ESPN Events will be a disappointment and not a great sign going forward.

 

[Sweetlou2.0]

I think anything less than a Sunday matchup with Kansas in this ESPN Events will be a disappointment and not a great sign going forward.

I agree it would be a disappointment but not necessarily a bad sign of things to come. Everyone has nights where they don't play well and it wouldn't necessarily be a bad sign to lose to an Iona or Belmont imo. Having said that... if we play well we should be in the championship.

 

[pfaud001]

Is it normal to have a tie for rankings? I don’t know that I have seen that before.