Where was Alabama Basketball Ranked in the Preseason AP Top 25?

The Crimson Tide is again considered to be one the favorites to win the SEC title, if not more in 2023-24.

Could the Alabama Crimson Tide basketball team be in the same spot in the preseason AP Top 25 as where the rankings had it at the end last year? 

No. But it's not too far off to start the 2023-24 season, and significantly higher up in the poll to a year ago at this time. You may remember,  Alabama was No. 20 in the preseason AP Top 25, and No. 19 in the coaches poll, only to see the Crimson Tide move up to No. 1 in the final AP Top 25 after winning the SEC Tournament championship. 

Alabama was rewarded by being named the top-overall seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament, but the extremely turbulent season came to an abrupt end in the South Region, where the Crimson Tide lost in the Sweet 16 to, ironically, the team just ahead of it in the preseason AP poll, San Diego State, 71-64. 

Alabama, which lost all three assistant coaches under Nate Oats to head coaching jobs, and had two first-round selections in the 2023 NBA Draft, will begin the season at No. 24. 

Here's how the voters had things roughly three weeks before the season opens on Nov. 6, 2023.

AP Top 25 

Rank, Team, Points (First)

1. Kansas 1548 (46)
2. Duke 1466 (11)
3. Purdue 1436 (3)
4. Michigan State 1346 (1)
5. Marquette 1283
6. UConn 1243 (2)
7. Houston 1117
8. Creighton 1099
9. Tennessee 1032
10. Florida Atlantic 1011
11. Gonzaga 830
12. Arizona 776
13. Miami, Fla. 750
14. Arkansas 685
15. Texas A&M 597
16. Kentucky 530
17. San Diego State 529
18. Texas 493
19. North Carolina 474
20. Baylor 431
21. USC 427
22. Villanova 395
23. St. Mary's 335
24. Alabama 163
25. Illinois 104

Also receiving votes; Wisconsin 53, Colorado 49, UCLA 47, St. John's 47, Maryland 34, Virginia 27, Auburn 27, TCU 24, Mississippi St. 20, Kansas St 13, Xavier 8, Memphis 7, Missouri 6, Boise St. 4, Indiana 3, Florida 2, Coll of Charleston 2, New Mexico 1, Drake 1.

The preseason coaches' poll was released later Monday. It''ll look pretty familiar. 

Coaches Poll

Rank, Team, Points (First)

1. Kansas 785 (23)
2. Purdue 742 (5)
3. Duke 716 (3)
4. Michigan State 667
5. UConn 626 (1)
6. Houston 615
7. Marquette 614
8. Creighton 552
9. Florida Atlantic 548
10. Tennessee 496
11. Arizona 449
12. Gonzaga 407
13. Miami, Fla. 390
14. Arkansas 315
15. San Diego State 277
16. Kentucky 261
17. Baylor 258
18. Texas 251
19. Texas A&M 231
20. Villanova 217
21. North Carolina 197
22. USC 176
23. St. Mary's 147
24. Alabama 1142
25. UCLA 52

Others Receiving Votes: Illinois 45; Wisconsin 43; Maryland 29; TCU 26; Colorado 21; Xavier 17; Ohio State 16; Virginia 13; St. John's 13; Kansas State 8; Indiana 7; Washington 5; Florida 5; Auburn 5; Missouri 4; Oregon 3; Memphis 3; Mississippi State 2; Iowa State 2; Yale 1; Boise State 1.

The USA TODAY Sports Board of Coaches is made up of 32 head coaches at Division I institutions. All are members of the National Association of Basketball Coaches. The board for the 2023-24 season: John Becker, Vermont; Randy Bennett, Saint Mary's; Jeff Boals, Ohio; Kevin Broadus, Morgan State; Scott Cross, Troy; Scott Drew, Baylor; Matt Driscoll, North Florida; Greg Gary, Mercer; Ron Hunter, Tulane; Ben Jacobson, Northern Iowa; James Jones, Yale; Greg Kampe, Oakland; Brad Korn, Southeast Missouri State; Robert McCullum, Florida A&M; Greg McDermott, Creighton; Nick McDevitt, Middle Tennessee; Niko Medved, Colorado State; Dan Monson, Long Beach State; Chris Mooney, Richmond; Darris Nichols, Radford; Nate Oats, Alabama; Matt Painter, Purdue; Brett Reed, Lehigh; Patrick Sellers, Central Connecticut State; Mark Slessinger, New Orleans; Steve Smiley, Northern Colorado; Craig Smith, Utah; Zach Spiker, Drexel; Brett Tanner, Abilene Christian; Jeff Wulbrun, Denver; Jay Young, Fairfield, Mike Young, Virginia Tech.

For a comparison, KenPom’s preseason rankings were revealed on Sunday and had the Crimson Tide at No. 10. It was listed second among Southeastern Conference teams, to No. 8 Tennessee, with a projected record of 21-9 overall and 12-6 in the league. Meanwhile, the AP Top 25 had Alabama the fifth SEC team in the rankings. 

Alabama is scheduled to play nine teams in KenPom’s top 30 during the regular season. 

2024 Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings

1. Purdue
2. Kansas
3. Houston
4. Connecticut
5. Gonzaga
6. Arizona
7. Baylor
8. Tennessee
9. Duke
10. Alabama
11. Marquette
12. Creighton
13. Michigan St.
14. Arkansas
15. Auburn
16. Texas
17. North Carolina
18. Kentucky
19. Illinois
20. Wisconsin
21. USC
22. Maryland
23. Villanova
24. Texas A&M
25. Kansas St.

Alabama is set to open the regular season Nov. 6, when it hosts Morehead State at Coleman Coliseum. 

This story was updated Monday evening with the coaches' poll.

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