The Alabama Crimson Tide went into halftime of their game against the Ole Miss Rebels with a four-point lead. Still, head coach Nate Oats was clearly frustrated and shared that he felt like his team was “sleepwalking.”

In the end, Alabama was outscored by Ole Miss 42-28 in the second half and they ended up losing the game by double-digits. More than that, the Crimson Tide lost, after the game, Oats was frustrated with how his team lost the game, calling out their effort in his postgame press conference.

“It’s disgusting, to be honest with you,” Nate Oats said. “With the amount of fifth-year seniors we have and the leadership that should be shown on this team, to have guys come in ready to play, it’s – look, it starts with me, because I’m supposed to be the one motivating these guys, and I obviously didn’t motivate them very well to make sure they’re ready. So, I’m gonna have to look in the mirror and see what I did and didn’t do.”

Alabama outshot Ole Miss from the field, making 42.6 percent of their shots to 38.6 percent. However, the major issue in the game became turnovers, with the Crimson Tide coughing the ball up 21 times compared to just seven Ole Miss turnovers. Only two Crimson Tide players, Mark Sears and Aden Holloway, scored in double-digits.

“I’m gonna have to have a good talk with some of these seniors that are supposed to be on leaders and figure out why we weren’t ready to go tonight because it’s very disappointing. It’s disgusting,” Oats said. “And it’s frustrating.”

The SEC is expected to be highly competitive this season. With the loss, Alabama fell to 3-1 in conference play, putting them in a three-way tie for third place. Auburn and Ole Miss, the only two teams still unbeaten in conference play, are tied for first.

“It’s not like we lost to a bad team. This is a really good team. They’re in first place. Them and Auburn are tied now for first place in the league,” Oats said. “But we didn’t lose because they were just a far superior team tonight. I felt like we lost because they came ready to play, they brought energy, they brought effort, and we did not. That’s a frustrating way to lose.”

Nate Oats and the Crimson Tide will be back in action on Saturday with a difficult road game against Kentucky.

And the award for deepest men’s basketball conference goes to: the SEC.

How else to explain two top five teams — No. 4 Alabama and No. 5 Florida — both losing Tuesday night at home to conference foes?

At least in the case of Alabama, the Tide lost to a ranked team, falling 74-64 to No. 21 Ole Miss. Meanwhile, the Gators shot an abysmal 21 of 31 from the free throw line in an 83-82 loss to unranked Missouri, which was not nearly as close as the final score indicates.

The best argument for the SEC’s depth isn’t just that Missouri won but that the Tigers led for almost 38 minutes on the road — at one point by as many as 19 points.

Turnovers played a crucial role in both Alabama and Florida faltering Tuesday night. The Tide threw it away a whopping 21 times, which Ole Miss turned into 19 points (the Rebels tallied only seven turnovers). Florida coughed it up 13 times to Missouri’s eight, allowing the Tigers to score 18 points.

Giving the ball to the other team usually doesn’t end well. What’s more surprising, though, is that this happened to both Alabama and Florida at home. Playing well on the road is tough. Playing well in front of a friendly, packed crowd shouldn’t be.

Certainly no one could have predicted that midway through January, the two undefeated teams in SEC play would be No. 1 Auburn (16-1, 4-0) and Ole Miss (15-2, 4-0). Given how tough this conference is, it’s unlikely anyone finishes with less than three losses — especially if Auburn star and national player of the year candidate Johni Broome is out for more than a week.

The SEC’s motto is “it just means more.” With the way this conference is beating itself up on as we inch closer to March, that line might need to change to “it just is more” — as in, more representation in the NCAA Tournament than anyone else. Because with the SEC’s depth, they’re likely to send a lot of teams dancing.

Required reading

(Photo: James Gilbert / Getty Images)

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – The first match of the 2025 Alabama Hi-Q season kicked off today.

The academic quiz competition for high school students with categories such as mathematics, history, physics and fine art and more.

Mobile County public and private schools compete in teams of eight to 10 students. At the end of the 15 contests, the top three teams win cash awards for their schools. Individual awards are given out, as well.

FOX10’s Lenise Ligon was invited to be the quizmaster, maintaining the tradition of fox10’s involvement. Bob Grip was quizmaster for 38 years.

Students from Mary G. Montgomery High School, Blount High School, Theodore High School, St. Paul’s Episcopal School, Satsuma High School and Barton Academy For Advanced World Studies competed in today’s event.

Blount got the win for the first match. There’s a challenge though and the win could go to MGM

St. Paul’s won the second match.

The competition ends in March when the overall winner is declared.

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