Where Alabama Basketball Ranks in Polls After Beating Mississippi State, Oklahoma

Did the Crimson Tide move up in the AP Top 25 and Coaches Poll after completing comebacks on the road against the Bulldogs and Sooners?

Alabama forward Aiden Sherrell (22) celebrates a 3-point basket next to Oklahoma forward Mohamed Wague (5) in the second half of the men's college basketball game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners and the Alabama Crimson Tide, Saturday Jan. 17, 2026. | SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

After 10 weeks into the regular season, Alabama men's basketball entered its road matchups against Mississippi State and Oklahoma as the No. 18 team in the AP Top 25 and the Coaches Poll.

The Crimson Tide came into this past week with back-to-back losses, and another would diminish Alabama's status in the SEC. However, head coach Nate Oats and company came through in untraditional ways, as despite being down by double digits in each game, UA defeated the Bulldogs 97-82 on Jan. 13 and also beat the Sooners 83-81 on Jan. 17.

These comeback victories moved Alabama up to No. 17 in both the AP Top 25 and the Coaches Poll on Monday.

AP Top 25

(Ranking, Team, First-Place Votes, Record, Points)

1. Arizona (61), 18-0, 1525
2. UConn, 18-1, 1419
3. Michigan, 16-1, 1377
4. Purdue, 17-1, 1318
5. Duke, 17-1, 1296
6. Houston, 17-1, 1217
7. Nebraska, 18-0, 1207
8. Gonzaga, 19-1, 1103
9. Iowa State, 16-2, 1001
10. Michigan State, 16-2, 998
11. Illinois, 15-3, 893
12. Texas Tech, 14-4, 805
13. BYU, 16-2, 791
14. Virginia, 16-2, 713
15. Vanderbilt, 16-2, 656
16. Florida, 13-5, 651
17. Alabama, 13-5, 571
18. Clemson, 16-3, 449
19. Kansas, 13-5, 305
20. Arkansas, 13-5, 298
21. Georgia, 15-3, 263
22. North Carolina, 14-4, 220
23. Louisville, 13-5, 195
24. Saint Louis, 17-1, 187
25. Miami (Ohio), 19-0, 99

Others Receiving Votes: Wisconsin 64, St. John's 64, Iowa 30, Kentucky 27, Tennessee 20, Utah St. 15, UCF 14, Miami 10, George Mason 10, Saint Mary's 5, SMU 3, Villanova 3, Texas A&M 2, NC State 1.

Coaches Poll

(Ranking, Team, First-Place Votes, Record, Points)

1. Arizona (31), 18-0, 775
2. Michigan, 16-1, 710
3. UConn, 18-1, 693
4. Purdue, 17-1, 665
5. Duke, 17-1, 653
6. Houston, 17-1, 629
7. Nebraska, 18-0, 598
8. Gonzaga, 19-1, 581
9. Iowa State, 16-2, 497
10. Michigan State, 16-2, 489
11. Illinois, 15-3, 447
12. Texas Tech, 14-4, 418
13. BYU, 16-2, 412
14. Vanderbilt, 16-2, 352
15. Virginia, 16-2, 350
16. Florida, 13-5, 284
17. Alabama, 13-5, 275
18. Clemson, 16-3, 262
19. Kansas, 13-5, 181
20. Arkansas, 13-5, 173
21. Louisville, 13-5, 117
22. Georgia, 15-3, 110
23. Saint Louis, 17-1, 100
24. North Carolina, 14-4, 90
25. St. John's 13-5, 54

Schools Dropped Out: No. 23 Iowa; No. 24 Utah State.

Others Receiving Votes: Iowa 52; Wisconsin 20; Miami (OH) 19; Utah State 14; Villanova 10; Tennessee 10; Saint Mary's 9; Miami (FL) 8; Texas A&M 5; Kentucky 5; SMU 4; Seton Hall 2; UCF 1; George Mason 1.

Against Mississippi State, the Crimson Tide, which only had eight scholarship players available due to various injuries, found itself trailing 29-15 with less than eight minutes to go in the first half. However, Alabama went on a 21-5 run to close out the half and came out strong out of the break as well. The Tide tallied 82 points in the final 28 minutes, as Labaron Philon Jr. and Aiden Sherrell logged career-highs in points with 32 and 22, respectively.

The Oklahoma contest was gridlocked at the beginning, but the Sooners found a way to end the first half on an 11-0 run. Nevertheless, within the first eight minutes of the second half, Sherrell was already up to 19 points, including 12 of UA's first 24 points in that time frame. Philon proceeded to take over, as he finished with 23 points, including 17 in the second half alone. This duo was responsible for 31 of Alabama's 50 second-half points.

Alabama (13-5, 3-2 SEC) now turns the page to its next matchup at home against Tennessee (12-6, 2-3 SEC) on Jan. 24 at 7:30 p.m. CT.

Alabama Basketball's 2025-26 Season in the Polls

• Preseason: No. 15 in AP Poll, No. 16 in Coaches Poll
• After Week 1 (North Dakota win, St. John's win): No. 8 in AP Poll, No. 9 in Coaches Poll
• After Week 2 (Purdue loss): No. 11 in AP Poll, No. 11 in Coaches Poll
• After Week 3 (Illinois win): No. 8 in AP Poll, No. 9 in Coaches Poll
• After Week 4 (Gonzaga loss, UNLV win, Maryland win): No. 12 in AP Poll, No. 12 in Coaches Poll
• After Week 5 (Clemson win, UTSA win): No. 12 in AP Poll, No. 12 in Coaches Poll
• After Week 6 (Arizona loss): No. 16 in AP Poll, No. 16 in Coaches Poll
• After Week 7 (USF win, Kennesaw State win): No. 14 in AP Poll, No. 15 in Coaches Poll
• After Week 8 (Holiday break): No. 15 in Coaches Poll (AP Top 25 not released during break)
• After Week 9 (Yale win, Kentucky win): No. 13 in AP Poll, No. 12 in Coaches Poll
• After Week 10 (Vanderbilt loss, Texas loss): No. 18 in AP Poll, No. 18 in Coaches Poll
• After Week 11 (Mississippi State win, Oklahoma win): No. 17 in AP Poll, No. 17 in Coaches Poll

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