What Galvanized Alabama Basketball at Beginning of SEC Play

Because the Crimson Tide's injury situation has forced Nate Oats into a tighter rotation, it has created a closer team.

Jan 13, 2026; Starkville, Mississippi, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide forward London Jemison (6) reacts with forward Aiden Sherrell (22) during the second half against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Humphrey Coliseum. | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— No. 18 Alabama (12-5, 2-2 SEC) had just eight scholarship players available in Tuesday night's road win at Mississippi State, and it's looking like it will likely be the same situation for Saturday's road contest at Oklahoma (11-6, 1-3 SEC) with the possibility of forward Taylor Bol Bowen returning.

"This is not going to be an easy game," Alabama head coach Nate Oats said during Friday's press conference. "We're down men again, but I think us being down is kind of galvanized the group that's playing. I think they've kind of proven to be some tough kids pulled together. Sometimes you need a little adversity to pull the group together. I think that's what's happened with this group is we got down to a low number of guys, and they knew they had to bring it, and they brought it. The guys that we put on the floor against Mississippis State were some warriors.

"I think Taylor has been playing super hard when he's been in, and he’s dying to get back on the floor because I think he feels confident and good about the way he's been playing, how hard he’s been playing. So he'd be the next one back in the mix if he's able to go tomorrow. Those guys are all playing pretty tough, connected, hard basketball, but we're going to have to to win there.”

With a shortened rotation, Alabama rallied from a 14-point deficit in the first half to crush Mississippi State with a 97-82 victory. The Tide started showing better effort on both ends of the floor to end the two-game losing skid in conference play.

The SEC isn't as dominant across the top-10 of college basketball as it was last season with multiple Final Four contenders like Florida, Auburn, Alabama and Tennessee, but Oats still believes that the SEC is still the best conference from top to bottom. Every SEC team is in the top-85 on KenPom with South Carolina the lowest-rated at No. 85. Florida, Vanderbilt, Alabama, Tennessee and Arkansas are all in the top-25.

Just four games into the conference slate, there are no undefeated teams remaining in conference play. Lots of teams have the opportunity to win the SEC regular season title and compete for a double-bye in the conference tournament. Even the only winless conference team, LSU, lost on a buzzer beater to Kentucky during the midweek. Oats sees LSU as a team that can still turn it around.

Alabama's injury situation has not been ideal, but the Crimson Tide is sitting at 2-2 in SEC with Saturday's game at Oklahoma the only thing standing in the way before the team's midweek bye. Having a week off can give some of the injured players the time needed to recover and recharge before the crucial stretch of conference play leading up to the postseason.

"When injuries happen, and you’re forced to shorten your rotation ups a little bit, I think some of the chemistry gets a little better, even if they’re really good players that go out, it just forces the chemistry, forces the rotation to be tighter, and some teams start to play a little better," Oats said. "So a lot of parity. It’s gonna be hard to win road games this year in the SEC…. We’ve just got to put our head down and get better every day, not worry about the standings. I think the standings will take care of themselves."

SEC Standings

Team	SEC Record
Vanderbilt	3-1
Texas A&M	3-1
Missouri	3-1
Florida	3-1
Arkansas	3-1
Alabama	2-2
Mississippi State	2-2
Tennessee	2-2
Texas	2-2
Georgia	2-2
Ole Miss	2-2
Kentucky	2-2
Auburn	1-3
South Carolina	1-3
Oklahoma	1-3
LSU	0-4