Tournament Odds and What Alabama Basketball Fans Can Expect in the Postseason

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — If you saw the Alabama basketball game at Georgia on Saturday, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.

The first half was not-so-great for the Crimson Tide. It was 2-for-12 from 3-point range and had 15 turnovers.

However, in the second half Alabama scored 59 points while shooting 63.3 percent (19 of 30) from the floor and 80 percent (8 of 10) from beyond the arc en route to the win.

Consequently, when it comes to trying to figure out what to expect from this team in the postseason, your guess is as good as mine. The Crimson Tide (21-6 overall, 16-2 in the Southeastern Conference) has had a terrific season but hasn't been the most consistent team offensively of late.

If Alabama ran into Kentucky and bowed out after one game of the SEC Tournament, no one would be surprised.

If it made a run the NCAA Tournament, again, no one would be surprised — although it's going to be a little surreal to see people picking the Crimson Tide for the Final Four in their brackets.

Let's start with what we know. Alabama won the regular-season SEC title, and as the top seed is still favored to come out on top in Nashville.

Odds to win SEC Tournament

From BetOnline (other conference tournaments listed below)

Alabama 11/5
Arkansas 3/1
Florida 5/1
LSU 5/1
Tennessee 5/1
Missouri 9/1
Kentucky 16/1
Ole Miss 22/1
Mississippi State 66/1
Georgia 100/1
South Carolina 150/1
Texas A&M 300/1
Vanderbilt 300/1

Nate Oats also recently reminded everyone that his teams have been a part of four conference tournaments (2015-19), and won three of them.

Granted, this isn't the Mid-American Conference, but that's still impressive.

Three of those teams played in the NCAA Tournament, and went 2-3.

If you're thinking that's not very good, take a look at the opponents. Only one time in those six games did it have the better seeding, 2019 when No. 6 Buffalo knocked off No. 11 Arizona State, 91-74. Every other opponent was between a three- and five-seed.

One of those games helped lead to Oats being hired by Alabama. In 2018, his 13-seeded team destroyed fourth-seeded Arizona, 89-68 (and then subsequently lost to Kentucky). Greg Byrne was no longer the director of athletics for the Wildcats, but he sure was paying attention.

Alabama has been in the NCAA just once since 2012. In 2018, it was the No. 9 seed in the East and knocked off Virginia Tech 86-83, before getting routed by Villanova, which went on to win the whole thing.

Finally, statistically, Alabama is third in the SEC in scoring margin, first in offensive rebounding and first in steals. Here's the combination to keep an eye on, the Crimson Tide is second in three-point shooting (barely edged by Florida) and first in three-point defense.

That's a winning combination this time of year along with with good guard play, outstanding defense and good coaching.

So what can we expect out of Alabama in the postseason? Honestly, a lot even though there's kind of feeling that Oats is playing with house money since it's been so long since the Crimson Tide has had Final Four potential.

If the shooters get hot, this is a team that will be very, very tough to knock out of either tournament.

Conference Tournaments Odds

CAA

Hofstra 7/4

Drexel 19/10

Northeastern 2/1

Elon 5/1

HORIZON LEAGUE

Cleveland State 5/4

Northern Kentucky 2/1

Oakland 3/1

Milwaukee 17/4

SUMMIT LEAGUE

South Dakota State 7/5

North Dakota State 13/5

South Dakota 13/5

Oral Roberts 13/4

MAAC

Siena 5/2

Monmouth 3/1

Saint Peter's 19/4

Iona 5/1

Canisius 8/1

Marist 8/1

Niagara 8/1

Manhattan 33/1

Quinnipiac 33/1

Fairfield 50/1

Rider 50/1

WEST COAST

Gonzaga 1/10

BYU 4/1

Saint Mary's 14/1

Pepperdine 25/1

ACC

Florida State 9/4

Virginia 5/2

Georgia Tech 6/1

Virginia Tech 6/1

North Carolina 15/2

Louisville 10/1

Clemson 12/1

Duke 20/1

Syracuse 20/1

Notre Dame 50/1

Pittsburgh 50/1

NC State 66/1

Miami (FL) 100/1

Boston College 200/1

Wake Forest 200/1

BIG WEST

UC Santa Barbara 5/4

UC Irvine 9/4

UC Riverside 3/1

CSU Bakersfield 7/1

Hawaii 14/1

UC Davis 22/1

CSU Fullerton 33/1

CSU Northridge 50/1

Long Beach State 50/1

Cal Poly 200/1

SOUTHLAND

Abilene Christian 4/7

Nicholls 9/4

Sam Houston State 7/2

New Orleans 25/1

Northwestern State 25/1

Lamar 50/1

McNeese 66/1

Houston Baptist 100/1

Incarnate Word 100/1

SE Louisiana 100/1

CONFERENCE USA

Louisiana Tech 11/4

North Texas 3/1

Western Kentucky 3/1

Marshall 5/1

UAB 5/1

Old Dominion 12/1

UTEP 20/1

Florida Atlantic 25/1

UTSA 28/1

Charlotte 66/1

Rice 100/1

Florida International 150/1

Middle Tennessee 200/1

Southern Miss 200/1

BIG SKY

Eastern Washington 7/4

Southern Utah 9/4

Weber State 11/4

Montana 9/1

Montana State 10/1

Idaho State 16/1

Northern Colorado 25/1

Portland State 33/1

Sacramento State 50/1

Northern Arizona 66/1

Idaho 150/1

MOUNTAIN WEST

San Diego State 6/5

Utah State 12/5

Boise State 7/2

Colorado State 7/2

Nevada 20/1

UNLV 33/1

Wyoming 50/1

Fresno State 100/1

New Mexico 250/1

San Jose State 250/1

Air Force 300/1

BIG EAST

Creighton 11/5

Villanova 9/4

UConn 13/5

Xavier 15/2

Seton Hall 10/1

St. John's 10/1

Providence 28/1

Marquette 33/1

Georgetown 66/1

Butler 100/1

DePaul 300/1

SWAC

Prairie View A&M 8/5

Texas Southern 2/1

Jackson State 3/1

Grambling 7/1

Southern 7/1

Alabama A&M 25/1

Alcorn State 25/1

Alabama State 66/1

PAC-12

Colorado 2/1

Oregon 2/1

USC 12/5

UCLA 11/2

Stanford 16/1

Arizona State 28/1

Oregon State 28/1

Utah 28/1

Washington State 66/1

California 250/1

Washington 250/1

PATRIOT LEAGUE

Colgate 1/5

Army 9/2

Loyola Maryland 8/1

Bucknell 12/1

BIG TEN

Michigan 2/1

Illinois 5/2

Iowa 13/4

Ohio State 6/1

Purdue 13/2

Wisconsin 12/1

Michigan State 25/1

Indiana 50/1

Maryland 50/1

Rutgers 50/1

Minnesota 100/1

Penn State 100/1

Northwestern 150/1

Nebraska 500/1

BIG 12

Baylor 2/3

Kansas 9/2

Texas 15/2

Texas Tech 15/2

West Virginia 15/2

Oklahoma State 10/1

Oklahoma 16/1

Iowa State 200/1

TCU 200/1

Kansas State 300/1

MID-AMERICAN

Toledo 19/10

Buffalo 2/1

Akron 5/1

Kent State 5/1

Bowling Green 9/1

Ohio 9/1

Ball State 20/1

Miami (OH) 28/1

AAC

Houston 4/7

Wichita State 5/2

Memphis 6/1

SMU 6/1

Cincinnati 33/1

Tulsa 50/1

UCF 50/1

South Florida 100/1

Temple 100/1

East Carolina 200/1

Tulane 200/1

MEAC

Norfolk State 12/5

North Carolina A&T 11/4

Coppin State 3/1

Morgan State 3/1

Florida A&M 7/1

North Carolina Central 8/1