Alabama
March is here. Alabama basketball needs to wake up fast
Two things can be true at once.
First truth: the Alabama basketball schedule of late hasn’t been easy; No. 4 Tennessee at home before No. 25 Florida on the road in a four-day span is nothing at which to scoff. Plus, Alabama has played three of its last four games on the road.
Second truth: The Crimson Tide isn’t playing its best basketball right now. It doesn’t matter the opponent, and it doesn’t matter the circumstance. Alabama is capable of better.
The combination of the two truths resulted in back-to-back SEC losses for the first time in two years. The latest was a 105-87 loss to the Gators on Tuesday in Gainesville.
It’s concerning to say the least. Is it time to panic, though? Maybe, maybe not. However, it is certainly time for Alabama to shake off these losses and right the ship. It’s not sinking, but it’s starting to take on some water, ultimately slowing it down.
A vessel that’s not full steam ahead in March isn’t going to stay afloat too long in the postseason.
“We have to bounce back and be ready to go on Saturday and see what seed we can get going into Nashville,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said.
The Crimson Tide can’t seem to get everything to line up lately. Just when the defense started playing better against Tennessee, the offense disappeared. That trend continued in the first half against Florida. With Alabama shooting 10% from beyond the arc, the defense kept the Crimson Tide in the game.
Until it didn’t.
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“We let some offensive frustrations lead to some defensive letdowns that led to them opening it up,” Oats said.
In the final five minutes of the first half, Florida scored 18 points to take a nine-point halftime lead. That continued in the second half with the Gators’ lead ballooning to 23 at one point. The Gators’ points per possession grew to 1.452 in the second half.
“You can play great defense for 4-5 minutes, offense isn’t going well, you have a couple turnovers, you miss some open shots, that can’t frustrate you if you’re really a defensive-minded team,” Oats said. “Right now, we’ve got too many guys getting frustrated and then having too many letdowns.”
Alabama gave up 27 fast-break points and only scored eight. Florida had 13 assists to Alabama’s six. The Crimson Tide only blocked one shot compared to four for the Gators. Alabama also had only half as many steals as Florida.
Turnovers were once again an issue for the Crimson Tide for a second consecutive game. In six of the past nine games, Alabama has reached double-digit turnovers.
Meanwhile, the Crimson Tide’s shooting from deep has slowed. Alabama has made 14 of 60 (23%) of its 3-point attempts the past two games. The Crimson Tide doesn’t have to hit triples at a constant high clip to win, but it needs to be better than that.
Some of this can be fixed, some of it might not be. But either way, rest would be a good first step.
“It looked like we were tired tonight to be honest with you,” Oats said. “We’ve got to do a better job. We’re off (Wednesday). Need to get rested, get in with the trainer, get a bunch of treatment, make sure we’re not going too hard Thursday, Friday, get their bodies and minds fresh ready to play Saturday, and then get ready to try to make a run in Nashville.”
All is not lost. Sure, the SEC regular-season title continues to slip away, but a good seed in the SEC Tournament and NCAA Tournament are still attainable. Alabama just needs to find a way to stop slipping down this path and halt the losing before it becomes a losing streak.
Simply put, it’s time for the Crimson Tide to wake up. Otherwise, any dreams of a tournament run will most certainly disappear.
Nick Kelly is the Alabama beat writer for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network, and he covers Alabama football and men’s basketball. Reach him at nkelly@gannett.com or follow him @_NickKelly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.
Alabama women’s basketball embarks on its non-conference schedule with a season opener against Stetson, but how much the Crimson Tide’s opponents make from the University of Alabama before SEC play begins in January?
The Tuscaloosa News obtained contract information via an open records request to determine the amount of money that UA will be paying out during the 2025-26 non-conference slate.
Fourteen non-conference foes are on the docket for Alabama, including teams that the Crimson Tide will face during the Pink Flamingo Championships in Nassau, Bahamas, over Thanksgiving. The only contract that wasn’t provided was Alabama’s SEC/ACC Challenge game against Clemson, scheduled for Dec. 4.
Here’s what to know:
Stetson will receive $30,000 from the University of Alabama to travel to Tuscaloosa from DeLand, Florida. Sam Houston is Alabama’s other highest-paid opponent, bringing in $30,000 for the team’s trip from Huntsville, Texas.
Alabama A&M, Alcorn State, McNeese State and Troy will receive $25,000 each. The guaranteed amount that Tulane will be paid is $24,000. Kennesaw State and Samford will receive $20,000 each. Receiving $10,000, the University of Louisiana-Monroe is the lowest-paid opponent Alabama will face.
The Crimson Tide is paying $37,500 to compete in the Pink Flamingos Championship, in which it will meet Harvard and either Minnesota or the University of South Florida.
Per contract agreement, six of Alabama’s non-conference opponents will also receive 15 hotel rooms per night, including Alabama A&M, Alcorn State, Jackson State, Kennesaw State, McNeese State and Tulane. Alabama A&M, Jackson State and Kennesaw State are approximately three hours away from Tuscaloosa, or less.
Minus hotel room costs, Alabama will pay a total of $296,500 to the aforementioned visiting non-conference opponents and to participate in the Pink Flamingos Championship.
Alabama and Stetson will tip off at 4 p.m. CT on Monday, Nov. 3 in Coleman Coliseum ahead of Alabama men’s basketball’s season opener against North Dakota at 7 p.m. on the same day.
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Emilee Smarr covers Alabama basketball and Crimson Tide athletics for The Tuscaloosa News. She can be reached via email at esmarr@gannett.com.
Heflin, Alabama — Every Halloween season, when the sun sets in the small Alabama town of Heflin, the local students from Cleburne County High School toilet paper a few homes.
But last month, they upped their game, toilet papering just about every business in town, too.
“It’s just fun,” one teen told CBS News.
“And then you don’t get caught and it’s like, this is fantastic,” said another.
It was fantastic until they made the mistake of hitting the headquarters of the Heflin Police Department.
“It was up on the roof, the spare cars we had in the parking lot … We had to do something,” Heflin Police Chief Ross McGlaughn said.
So after the “attack” on his station last month, McGlaughn took to social media to send a message to the perpetrators.
“We think that rolling the police department was a little uncalled for, but as we enter into Halloween season, we dont want to hear any crying when we load up like we are going to serve a search warrant and go full out tactical ninja style old school rolling at your place next month,” McGlaughn wrote. “We know who you are and while you just put the play station controller down for a week, we are children of the 80s and 90s who perfected this craft years ago.”
The Heflin Police Department then got to work on an operation that was supported by officers from multiple jurisdictions, all armed to the teeth with toilet paper.
It was an unusual approach to policing, to say the least. But McGlaughn did get permission from the parents in advance. And he said he has his reasons for encouraging the kids like this.
“As long as they’re doing this, they’re not getting into trouble doing something else,” McGlaughn said. “I haven’t seen any types of drugs or alcohol involved. You know, I think they’re spending all their money on toilet paper.”
The kids have definitely taken to the prank war.
“I just think it’s good clean fun for everyone, and it’s been great for our whole town, the police department and everybody,” one student said.
Heflin’s toilet paper war has so tickled the town that businesses are now offering support by putting out free toilet paper. And the kids are taking care of the ensuing mess in their own unique way, by selling insurance.
“They call it the Toilet Paper Rapid Response Team,” McGlaughn said. “So if you buy their insurance and your yard gets rolled, the youth group will come clean it up for you … So you can buy protection.”
But it’s worth it, McGlaughn said, because this has been fun for everyone, including him.
“I’m just rallying everybody,” McGlaughn said as he prepared to toilet paper another home. “That way we can hit the next house. It looks beautiful from down there.”
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