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#4 Alabama has quietly risen into the AP top five and still isn’t being talked about as much as it should

In the preseason, Alabama had been a nailed-on top three team in the country according to anyone following the sport nationally. After losing important November matchups against Purdue and Oregon, some of that spark went away and it hasn’t really been found again. Since the start of December, Alabama is 12-1 with the lone loss coming to nationally ranked Ole Miss on January 14.

The best part of Alabama’s stretch has been its ability to win on the road over high-level opponents. The Crimson Tide have now claimed victory over Texas A&M, Kentucky, and Mississippi State in consecutive road matchups, all of whom are top 25 teams no matter what metric you look at.

Last night, Alabama went into Starkville to match up with a top 15 Mississippi State team and came out on top in an instant classic, winning 88-84 as Chris Youngblood went for a season-high 23 points and Mississippi State’s Josh Hubbard scored 38. The team’s three-point shooting finally looks to have turned a corner as well, with the Crimson Tide knocking down 15 of their 31 three-point attempts in the road win.

Though he struggled in games against Ole Miss and LSU, Mark Sears (18.0 ppg, 5.0 apg) has been the key to getting this team back on track. Sears posted 17 points, six rebounds, and nine assists in Wednesday night’s victory over Mississippi State in Starkville and had two of his top three scoring performances on the season in the wins over Texas A&M and Kentucky. Grant Nelson (12.7 ppg, 8.3 rpg) has turned up in a couple of big games as well, highlighted by 25 points and 11 rebounds in the win over Kentucky. Sears and Nelson have been called on to be leaders, both returning for another season with Alabama after last year’s Final Four run and the two large points of consistency in the roster.

That’s not to say they haven’t gotten plenty of help from the team’s newcomers though. Aden Holloway (11.8 ppg, 41.2% 3P), Labaron Philon (11.0 ppg, 3.6 apg), and Chris Youngblood (9.7 ppg) have all been fantastic in their first seasons in Tuscaloosa. Known for erratic play and shooting at Auburn as a freshman, Holloway has settled down extremely well for Alabama, counted on to make a couple three-pointers a night, cashing in on four of six attempts while going for an SEC season-high 22 points in a win over Vanderbilt.

While he isn’t much of a shooter and has struggled as of late, the freshman Philon has had his fair share of great games for the Crimson Tide. Philon scored 16 points against Oklahoma, 15 against Kentucky, but perhaps the best performance of his season came in the win against Illinois when Sears benched himself because Philon was playing that well, finishing with 16 points, seven rebounds, and nine assists.

Getting a late start to the season due to injury, Youngblood inserted himself into the rotation in mid-December and has been getting better and better in each passing game. Youngblood hit timely threes in wins over Texas A&M and Kentucky but posted his best game Tuesday night against Mississippi State. Youngblood hit seven of ten three-point attempts, scoring 23 points and matching every blow Alabama took from Mississippi State’s Josh Hubbard.

Once again, Alabama has an elite offense (currently ranked second in offensive efficiency at KenPom) and is playing at an extremely fast tempo (first nationally at KenPom). The Crimson Tide have hit just 33.2% of their three-point attempts so far this season, which may be a cause for concern, but they still have guys that can make shots, and I would bet on that mark continuing to improve.

With high-level guards and an elite offense, it’s not out of the picture for Alabama to get back to the Final Four for a second straight year. The Crimson Tide have matchups with Georgia, Arkansas, and Texas on the docket before their biggest test of the year, when they host Auburn on February 15. That one should show a lot about where these two teams are really at after Alabama has battled injuries and Auburn lost Johni Broome for a stretch in mid-January.

Other Things to Note:

• #6 Houston claims dominant 63-49 road win over West Virginia
• #23 Ole Miss survives late at home against Texas in 72-69 thriller
• 37 points from Ace Bailey leads Rutgers to 79-72 road win at Northwestern
• Maxime Raynaud goes for 21 & 15 in Stanford’s 70-61 win over Syracuse
• #18 Illinois, Nebraska meet in Pinnacle Bank Arena both looking to end skids (8:30 ET, FS1)