Alabama Basketball's Toughest 3-Game Stretches for 2026-27: Just a Minute

Welcome to BamaCentral’s "Just a Minute," a video series featuring Alabama Crimson Tide on SI's beat writers. Multiple times per week, the writers will group up or film solo to provide their take on a topic concerning the Crimson Tide or the landscape of college sports.

Watch the above video as BamaCentral basketball and football writer Hunter De Siver discusses some challenging games on Alabama basketball's 2026-27 schedule.

Alabama basketball's non-conference and SEC schedule for the 2026-27 slate was finalized on Monday.

There are some games on both sides of the schedule that should be relatively easy wins for head coach Nate Oats and company, but there are also some stretches that could be daunting tasks.

Starting with the non-conference three-game stretch, from Dec. 2 to Dec. 12, Alabama will travel to Miami for the ACC/SEC Challenge before going head-to-head with Houston in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The Crimson Tide will then face St. John's in Birmingham. St. John's is the only school in this trio that Alabama played last season, winning 103-96 at Madison Square Garden.

The Crimson Tide is 2-1 in the ACC/SEC Challenge and 3-1 in the all-time series against Miami, with the last matchup coming in 2021. The Hurricanes finished last season with a 26-9 record in their first year under head coach Jai Lucas. Miami has a good mix of returners, transfers and freshmen on the roster eyeing even further growth in the Lucas regime.

Oats and Houston head coach Kelvin Sampson are good friends, but the Alabama coach has come out on top in each of their three meetings. That said, every game has been close, as the combined margin is just 12 points. The Cougars are always in the running to be the nation's top team, and their six consecutive runs to at least the Sweet 16 are evidence of that.

As previously stated, the Crimson Tide defeated St. John's, but Alabama had to fend off multiple comeback efforts in front of a Red Storm crowd. Hall of Fame head coach Rick Pitino would want nothing more than to take Alabama down in one of its most popular cities and he's got a very talented roster to do it, including Baylor transfer Tounde Yessoufou, who averaged 17.8 points per game last season.

In terms of the SEC three-game stretch, from Feb. 6 to Feb. 13, Alabama will play back-to-back road games against Kentucky and Texas before hosting Arkansas. The Crimson Tide went 2-1 against these programs last season, but they all look different entering this upcoming season.

The Wildcats made some major moves in the transfer portal to improve from a relatively subpar campaign, with the most notable addition being Milan Momcilovic, who averaged 16.9 points on 50.6 percent from the field at Iowa State.

The Crimson Tide fell to Texas at home last season, and after a First Four to Sweet 16 run as an 11-seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Longhorns have put together a stellar transfer portal class while also acquiring one of the nation's top recruits in Marcus Spears Jr.

And speaking of highly touted freshmen, Arkansas landed Jordan Smith, who is widely regarded as the top guard in his class. Alabama beat the Razorbacks last year in an overtime thriller, and this will be the second of two meetings.

Alabama Basketball's 2026-27 Schedule

Non-Conference:

Nov. 3: vs. Sam Houston
Nov. 6: vs. Arkansas State
Nov. 9: vs. Oakland
Nov. 13: vs. Seton Hall
Nov. 17: vs. Kennesaw State
Nov. 24: vs. Baylor at Players Era Championships in Las Vegas
Nov. 26: vs. winner of Gonzaga/Kansas State at Players Era
Nov. 27/28: Players Era
Dec. 2: at Miami in ACC/SEC Challenge
Dec. 8: vs. Houston at the Jimmy V Classic in Madison Square Garden
Dec. 12: vs. St. John’s in Birmingham
Dec. 16: at South Florida
Dec. 21: vs. Iowa in Des Moines, Iowa
Dec. 29: vs. Samford

SEC:

Jan. 2: at Mississippi State – 13-19 (5-14 SEC)
Jan 5/6: vs. LSU – 15-17 (3-16)
Jan. 9: at Arkansas – 28-9 (16-5)
Jan 12/13: vs. Ole Miss – 15-20 (7-15)
Jan. 16: vs. Florida – 27-8 (17-3)
Jan. 19/20: at South Carolina – 13-19 (4-15)
Jan. 23: vs. Oklahoma – 21-16 (9-12)
Jan. 26/27: at Missouri – 20-13 (10-9)
Jan. 30: vs. Auburn – 22-17 (8-12)
Feb. 6: at Kentucky – 22-14 (12-9)
Feb. 9/10: at Texas – 21-15 (9-10)
Feb. 13: vs. Arkansas – 28-9 (16-5)
Feb. 16/17: vs. Mississippi State – 13-19 (5-14)
Feb. 20: at Tennessee – 25-12 (12-8)
Feb. 23/24: at Texas A&M – 22-12 (11-8)
Feb. 27: vs. Vanderbilt – 27-9 (13-8)
March 2/3: vs. Georgia – 22-11 (10-9)
March 6: at Auburn – 22-17 (8-12)

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