It feels like a broken record, but I'll say it again. This is a must win game. Alabama only needs one win to feel good about themselves making the tournament. The bubble teams are dropping like flies (Louisville, Syracuse, NC St, Nebraska), so that gives them some extra cushion.
A Q1 win on the road at A&M would be the finishing touches on an incredible 6 Q1 wins to go with 6 Q2 wins. This isn't a bubble team type resume in terms of wins, but their cold streak has made them seem like one of late. It seems like Alabama will face A&M twice in five days so they will have to beat them at least once.
The last meeting between Alabama and Texas A&M was all Alabama as they rolled to a 20 point win. However, A&M was missing key players that will be back this go around. The key to this game will be Alabama's guards rebounding and helping keep Tyler Davis and Robert Williams off the boards. I'm not afraid of Williams, but Davis is a guy inside Alabama struggles to defend. TJ Starks, Admon Gilder, and DJ Hogg will all be a handful for our guards to guard, especially if Herb cannot play, which it looks like he will not.
We will see how Alabama reacts to the early practices and Coach Avery trying to wake them up. They'll have to be during a 1pm tip and being in a hostile environment. Miss St went in and defeated them by double digits not long ago, so it can be done. It just takes a group effort and they will have to SCORE. Offense was historically bad last game, so it will be intriguing to see what has changed this game.
This team hasn't been playing horrible recently. They had a chance to win against U.K., down 3 with 10 min to go @ Auburn, had a chance to beat Arkansas, and didn't have a chance vs Florida. Those are 4 tournament teams and they had a chance to win 3. This team has it in them, the players just have to dig deep and be tougher.
Prediction:
I know this is all you Gumps look at on my preview so I'll make it quick. I think Alabama looks a lot better today as they seem more focused on the road against good teams. However, until they prove they have changed I will continue to pick against them.
Texas A&M 78-73
A Q1 win on the road at A&M would be the finishing touches on an incredible 6 Q1 wins to go with 6 Q2 wins. This isn't a bubble team type resume in terms of wins, but their cold streak has made them seem like one of late. It seems like Alabama will face A&M twice in five days so they will have to beat them at least once.
The last meeting between Alabama and Texas A&M was all Alabama as they rolled to a 20 point win. However, A&M was missing key players that will be back this go around. The key to this game will be Alabama's guards rebounding and helping keep Tyler Davis and Robert Williams off the boards. I'm not afraid of Williams, but Davis is a guy inside Alabama struggles to defend. TJ Starks, Admon Gilder, and DJ Hogg will all be a handful for our guards to guard, especially if Herb cannot play, which it looks like he will not.
We will see how Alabama reacts to the early practices and Coach Avery trying to wake them up. They'll have to be during a 1pm tip and being in a hostile environment. Miss St went in and defeated them by double digits not long ago, so it can be done. It just takes a group effort and they will have to SCORE. Offense was historically bad last game, so it will be intriguing to see what has changed this game.
This team hasn't been playing horrible recently. They had a chance to win against U.K., down 3 with 10 min to go @ Auburn, had a chance to beat Arkansas, and didn't have a chance vs Florida. Those are 4 tournament teams and they had a chance to win 3. This team has it in them, the players just have to dig deep and be tougher.
Prediction:
I know this is all you Gumps look at on my preview so I'll make it quick. I think Alabama looks a lot better today as they seem more focused on the road against good teams. However, until they prove they have changed I will continue to pick against them.
Texas A&M 78-73
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