Crimson Corner: Alabama Basketball Bracketology - March 2, 2022

While Joe Lunardi and Sports Illustrated both have the Crimson Tide listed as 5-seeds in this year's edition of March Madness, Andy Katz has Alabama listed as slightly lower.

With just two games left in the regular season, Alabama basketball is all but guaranteed a spot in this year's NCAA Tournament.

The Crimson Tide still has one home game vs Texas A&M before a road trip to LSU puts a cap on the regular season, and things are looking solid for Alabama. According to TeamRankings.com, Alabama's odds of making it to March Madness are 100 percent thanks to the impressive amount of high-profile wins that the team has been able to bring in thus far.

The TeamRankings odds breakdown continues, giving the Crimson Tide a 5.9 percent chance of receiving an automatic qualifier, aka winning the SEC Tournament. Due to that low percentage, Alabama has a 94.1 percent chance of receiving an at-large bid.

Alabama's most likely seeding as of right now is a 5-seed at 25.9 percent. Its odds to make the Final Four are 5.5 percent, and the percentage of chance to win the national title is 0.7 percent.

While the odds are certainly stacked against the Crimson Tide for winning it all, simply making it to the tournament would be quite an accomplishment for the program. The last time that Alabama made back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances was in 2005 and 2006, the end of a run that saw the Crimson Tide appear in March Madness for five-straight seasons.

Joe Lunardi

According to ESPN's Joe Lunardi, Alabama is projected to be a 5-seed in the South Region, a bracket led a 1-seed Baylor. Back in January, the Crimson Tide hosted the Bears in the Big 12/SEC Challenge, where Alabama prevailed 87-78. While Baylor is still a solid threat and one of the best teams in the nation, Alabama would no doubt play that game with confidence should it face the Bears in the Sweet Sixteen.

Before that would take place, though, Lunardi has the Crimson Tide facing some relatively tough opponents. In the First Round, Alabama would have to face the 12-seed play-in team in either San Diego State or Rutgers. Should the Crimson Tide prevail, it would then have to play the winner of UCONN and Vermont.

Here's a look at Lunardi's latest bracketology:

Andy Katz

Andy Katz of CBS Sports has Alabama listed as a 6-seed in the East Region, where Baylor is once again the top seed. The Crimson Tide would face 11-seed North Texas in the first round, according to his prediction.

The good thing about being a 6-seed for Alabama would that it would be in the opposite side of the bracket as Baylor, meaning that the Crimson Tide wouldn't have to face the Bears until the Elite Eight should it advance that far. However, Alabama would have to potentially contend with 2-seed Duke, 3-seed Villanova, 7-seed LSU and 10-seed Michigan along the way. Throw Princeton and Colgate in there as 14- and 15-seeds, and it's a tough bracket for the Crimson Tide.

Here's a look at Katz's latest bracketology:

Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated also has Alabama listed as a 5-seed and, like Lunardi and Katz, also in the South Region with Baylor as the top seed. In the First Round, SI has Alabama also facing either North Carolina or Indiana.

In the Second Round, though, it would face either UCLA or Iona — two teams that are quite good and could present their own sets of unique challenges. The Bruins were the team to oust the Crimson Tide in last year's Sweet Sixteen, while the Rick Pitino-coached Gaels beat Alabama earlier this season in the ESPN Events Invitational.

Here's a look at SI's latest bracketology: