Has Rocky Week Altered Alabama's Bracket Status? All Things CW

The latest postseason tournament projections and 10 things that got our attention this week.

The All Things CW notes column by Christopher Walsh appears in five parts each week, with the latest on the Alabama Crimson Tide. This is ...

Take 5 

It was just last Saturday, not even a week ago, that the selection committee for the 2023 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament revealed its early top 16 seeds for March Madness and had the Crimson Tide as the No. 1-overall team. 

It seems like longer. Obviously a lot's happened since then. 

Crimson Tide fans can take solace, though, that the team's status in regards to postseason tournaments and potential seedings hasn't changed. 

Sports Illustrated’s latest projected bracket for March Madness had the Crimson Tide as the top seed in the South, with UCLA second and UConn, one of the teams to beat Alabama this season, at No. 5.  

With a five-game winning streak Kansas is the flavor of the week and writer Kevin Sweeney noted that: "There’s a case to be made that if KU wins the Big 12, it deserves the No. 1 overall seed, and at this point I wouldn’t rule that out. They’d likely need one to two more losses from Alabama to make it happen, but the Jayhawks have a special résumé."

Elsewhere, Joe Lunardi of ESPN has Alabama the top-overall seed, playing in Birmingham as part of the South Regional. The Crimson Tide is followed by UCLA, Virginia and Indiana in that projected region. 

Of note, he has eight SEC teams in the field, and preseason No. 1 UNC as the first team out, "which is probably generous."

The popular site Bracket Matrix lists the projections of 107 different sites and all have Alabama as a No. 1 seed. They all have Houston and Kansas as No. 1 seeds as well, and 106 of the sites have Purdue as the fourth top seed. The lone holdout prefers UCLA.  

As for the Southeastern Conference, with three games remaining Alabama (24-4, 14-1 SEC) still has a one-game lead on Texas A&M (21-7, 13-2), where it'll close out the regular season on March 4.  

The Crimson Tide also hosts Arkansas on Saturday and Auburn on Wednesday. The Aggies are at Mississippi State and Ole Miss, which just said goodbye to head coach Kermit Davis.

Here's how the SEC Tournament projects heading into this weekend:

Projected SEC Tournament Pairings

March 8

Game 1: No. 12 seed vs. No. 13 seed; South Carolina vs. Ole Miss
Game 2: No. 11 seed vs. No. 14 seed; Georgia vs. LSU

March 9

Game 3: No. 9 seed vs. No. 8 seed; Florida vs. Arkansas
Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. No. 5 seed; Auburn
Game 5: No. 10 seed vs. No. 7 seed; Mississippi State vs. Vanderbilt
Game 6: Winner Game 2 vs. No. 6 seed; Missouri

March 10

Game 7: Winner Game 3 vs. No. 1 seed; Alabama
Game 8: Winner Game 4 vs. No. 4 seed; Tennessee
Game 9: Winner Game 5 vs. No. 2 seed; Texas A&M
Game 10: Winner Game 6 vs. No. 3 seed; Kentucky

March 11: Semifinals

March 12: Championship 

10 Things That Got Our Attention This Week

1] Although Alabama basketball's seeding remains secure for now, the Crimson Tide has slipped a little with oddsmakers. SI Sportsbook lists it third among favorites to win the NCAA Tournament behind Houston and Kansas, and UConn fourth. However, BetOnline has the Crimson Tide second:  

1. Houston 15/2
2. Alabama 9/1
3. Kansas 11/1
4. UCLA 11/1
5. Purdue 10/1

2] Sports Illustrated did its fist Big Board rankings of the top 100 NFL draft prospects, and had linebacker Will Anderson Jr. at No. 1. 

"What can’t he do on the football field? Anderson is a three-down player who can defend the run, drop in coverage and terrorize opposing offensive linemen and quarterbacks as a pass rusher. The Alabama junior has an outstanding combination of power, length and burst, and he plays with a nonstop motor. Despite a dip in year-over-year production, Anderson leaves Tuscaloosa with 34.5 sacks and 62 tackles for loss (TFL) over 41 career games. Per Pro Football Focus, he finished his career with 207 pressures with a minimum of 60 each season including 65 pressures in 2022. Anderson may not be the first pick on April 27, but he has the traits, production, intangibles and leadership to become the cornerstone of an NFL defense."

As for other former Crimson Tide players: 

• 3. Bryce Young 
• 14. Brian Branch 
• 23. Jahmyr Gibbs
• 71. Henry To'oTo'o
• 82. Jordan Battle
• 95. Byron Young

Also former Alabama linebacker Drew Sanders is No. 34.

3] The Alabama-Florida State softball game at the Clearwater Invitational drew 549,000 viewers on ESPN, making it the second most-watched game in the tournament’s history. Of note, women accounted for 38 percent of all viewers.

4] Lost in the craziness of the past week was athletic director Greg Byrne talking about the establishment of Year Alabama as the Crimson Tide's NIL entity with D1.ticker: "We're building the plane while we're flying it here... we've seen the stories out there about collectives and we purposely called [Yea Alabama] an NIL entity. I'm not sure if a collective is a four-letter-word or not, time will tell on that." On Friday, the Division I Committee on Infractions made its first NIL-infractions ruling, that the Miami women’s basketball head coach violated NCAA rules when she facilitated impermissible contact between two prospects and a booster.

5] Marshawn Lynch's list of the top five running backs in the league included three former Alabama players: Najee Harris⁣, Saquon Barkley⁣, Derrick Henry⁣, Josh Jacobs and Nick Chubb. He did include himself even though Beast Mode, now 36, hasn't played since 2019. 

6] Starting on March 13, NFL teams can begin negotiations with pending unrestricted free agents. SI's NFL Fantasy Free Agent Cheat Sheet includes some Crimson Tide players: 

RB 2. Jacobs; 9. Damien Harris; 19. Kenyan Drake

WR 20. Julio Jones

TE 4. Irv Smith Jr.; 12. O.J. Howard

7] Tom Curran of NBCSports Boston on The Rich Eisen Show when asked if the Patriots could trade Mac Jones in 2023: "Absolutely, positively not. The would happen over Robert Kraft's dead body."

8] Per the NCAA, 20,911 student-athletes entered the transfer portal in 2022, an increase over the previous year’s total of 17,781. Overall, 13 percent of all Division I student-athletes entered the transfer portal in 2022, with seven percent successfully transferring. 

9] Collin Sexton on being traded to Utah during the offseason: “It was definitely different. It was something that was difficult at first. Sometimes, you just have to adapt and roll with the punches. You have to figure it out when you get there. That was something that I did. I feel like adversity and getting out of your comfort zone is not always bad.”

10] Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard on the recent game against Texas being broadcast on the Longhorn Network: “Can’t leave soon enough. ... Quite frankly, having that hanging out there made you do double of everything. A 14-team schedule and then a 12-team schedule. You had to do that for all sports. It caused a lot of extra work. Now having it finalized is nice." Meanwhile, Octagon sports marketing Senior Vice President for Media Rights William Mao noted that the Longhorn Network has been “unprofitable since at least 2020," and had its subscriber count peak in 2017. 

Alabama fans who weren't exactly impressed with DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium this past season may be happy to hear that new LED lightning will be added as Texas is expected to play more night games in the SEC, along with more concession areas. Meanwhile, Tennessee announced that it plans to add a hotel next to Neyland Stadium along with other facility expansions and renovations. We're guessing the team won't be staying there the night before games. 

See Also:

Take 1: Alabama Football Spring Roster by the Numbers

Take 2: Is Massive Home-Court Advantage Just an Alabama Thing?

Take 3: What the Alabama Depth Chart Might Look Like at the Start of Spring

Take 4: Who was Alabama's Highest-Rated Recruit at Each Position?