Christopher Walsh’s All Things CW notes column is published in five parts each week, with the latest on the Alabama Crimson Tide. That is …
take 5
It’s been a rough, emotional week for the Alabama Crimson Tide men’s basketball team, who are still circling the floats and regrouping after last weekend’s tragic shooting involving a former player/teammate .
Right in the middle, however, Charles Barkley was doing what he does best these days, voicing what a lot of people thought but weren’t ready to say.
During his appearance on The Next Round, the former Auburn star and NBA star didn’t bite his tongue when it came to his school’s biggest rival.
“Alabama is honestly the best team in the country,” Barkley said. “I’ve seen them play probably four times. You are the best team. Houston is right there with them, but they outperform Houston.
“In my head, Alabama is the best team in the country, and it hurts to say that.”
Is it? There is a lot of growing statistical evidence for this.
Houston tops the polls, but Alabama still has a straight win in Houston. No. 2 Kansas lost to rival Kansas State, and No. 3 Purdue finished last week by a point over Michigan State, 64-63, a team that also defeated the Crimson Tide (81-70 at the Phil Knight Invitational ).
sports illustrated even noted that since Alabama’s loss to Gonzaga on Dec. 17, the Crimson Tide has been “the best team in the sport according to T-Rank.”
“They’ve won all seven games they’ve played at that stretch by double digits, including a 40-point drubbing against LSU over the weekend. Plus, their true road win in Houston is arguably the best win of the season for any team.”
Which brings us to the first of five notable things this week:
1) March madness sowing
On Saturday, when Alabama visits Missouri, we are 50 days away from Selection Sunday. The Crimson Tide is 16-2, 6-0 in the Southeastern Conference and it’s not going to be an easy game going forward.
Consequently, Alabama’s strength of schedule is remarkably good regardless of what metric is used, with some ranking it #1.
How that might affect seeding for the NCAA tournament was that SI’s first proposed March Madness field, released Wednesday, had seeded Alabama as the No. 1 in the East Regional.
Region East
#1 Alabama* vs. #16 Texas A&M–Corpus Christi*
#8 NC State vs. #9 Indiana
No. 5 Baylor vs. No. 12 Kent State*
#4 Arizona vs. #13 UC Irvine*
No. 6 Duke vs. No. 11 Wisconsin
No. 3 Kansas State vs. No. 14 Princeton*
No. 7 Michigan State vs. No. 10 New Mexico
#2 UCLA* vs. #15 Eastern Washington*
ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi also had Alabama as the best-seeded team in the East and opened the tournament in nearby Birmingham, his latest prediction revealed Tuesday. On Wednesday, he named the Crimson Tide the #2 overall in the tournament.
If there’s a hiccup, it’s the way the rest of the SEC has struggled. With Kentucky, Florida and Texas A&M suddenly on the wrong side of the bubble, the league risks fielding only five or six teams.
It also means there will be many desperate teams for Alabama to contend with on the track.
2) Senior Bowl I
Senior Bowl workouts begin on the last Monday of the month in Mobile, and there are two former Crimson Tide players who can help each other with a good week of practice in front of NFL coaches and officials.
The first is tackle Tyler Steenwho played at left after joining both Vanderbilt and Alabama and had a sell-out season with the Crimson Tide.
The second-team All-SEC player (as voted by the coaches) had 25 knockdown blocks in 13 games and developed some powerful techniques that can take him to the next level.
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Listed as 6-5, 315 pounds, it will be interesting to see if he lines up in other spots as left tackle during practice for the All-Star Game.
3) Senior Bowl II
centre-back Henry To’oTo’o wowed us at the Preseason Nick’s Kids Luncheon when he not only signed autographs but also punched and talked to lots of laughing kids.
Reviews about him are pretty scattered, so let’s focus on the one posted by NFL.com this week and compare him to the Minnesota Vikings’ Eric Kendricks:
“It would be easy to compare To’oTo’o to any of the Alabama linebackers ranked in the top 50 since 2014, but I think his play reminds me most of Kendricks’. Their instincts are more important to their production than sheer speed , but both finish with explosiveness to box ball carriers in backcourt, take on cover responsibilities and blitz effectively Intensity and attribution knowledge are also key traits for both that will help To’oTo’o establish a leadership role early on in their careers .”
4) Changed face of college sports
Two things were said this week that really caught our attention and showed how quickly collegiate athletics is changing.
The first was from the former Crimson Tide basketball coach Anthony Grant.
Legal sports betting went live in Ohio on January 1, giving local residents widespread access to sports betting.
However, after Dayton’s loss to VCU, they went too far and took it out on players on social media.
“There are some laws that have come out recently that I think could really change the landscape of collegiate sports,” Grant said after Dayton’s subsequent game, a win over Davidson. “And when we have people who manage to talk about themselves and attack children for their own intentions, it makes me sick. They have families. They didn’t deserve that. Mental health is real. …
“I just ask all Flyer fans to just understand that we’re dealing with 18, 21, 22-year-olds and this is about them.”
Then there was this from Tulane Athletic Director Troy Dannen on Collegiate Sports Connect:
“Whenever I speak NIL, the first thing everyone lies is and I remind everyone that everyone lies. The numbers you hear are lies. People use, agents use trainers, agents use collectives, so the numbers aren’t real. … I think we will see that collectives cannot keep promises. Some of this is now heard anecdotally. I think we don’t want to overreact because we’re not doing it like what we’re seeing.”
5) Early Heisman clock
Remember last week’s thing about who might be the best player on the Alabama offense next fall?
SI Sportsbook has released the opening odds for the 2023-24 season and of course Caleb Williams is the favorite to be repeated as the Heisman Trophy winner ahead of North Carolina’s Drake Maye.
The first 16 players listed were quarterbacks, including Alabama Ty Simpsonwho was third on the depth chart last season as a true freshman.
Only three non-quarterbacks have won the 2000 award, but all have played for the Crimson Tide.
2023-24 Heisman Trophy Odds
Caleb Williams (QB) USC +350
Drake Maye (QB) North Carolina +900
Bo Nix (QB), Oregon +1100
Jordan Travis (QB) Florida State +1100
Michael Penix Jr (QB) Washington +1100
Quinn Evers (QB) Texas +1300
Brock Vandagriff (QB) Georgia +1300
Sam Hartman (QB) Notre Dame +1400
Cade Klubnik (QB) Clemson +1400
Jayden Daniels (QB) LSU +1700
Joe Milton (QB) Tennessee +1700
Drew Allar (QB) Penn State +1700
Ty Simpson (QB) Alabama +2200
Kyle McCord (QB) Ohio State +2200
JJ McCarthy (QB) Michigan +2200
Dillon Gabriel (QB) Oklahoma +2500
Donovan Edwards (RB) Michigan +3500
Nick Singleton (RB) Penn State +3500
Jeff Sims (QB) Nebraska +4500
Devin Brown (QB) Ohio State +4500
Marvin Harrison Jr. (WR) State of Ohio +4500
Suggested reading: It’s all routine for Jalen Hurts
See also:
Take 1: First hot board for Alabama defensive coordinator
Take 2: Alabama basketball slowly finds its way through shock, pain
Take 3: First Alabama Predictions for the 2023 NFL Draft
Take 4: Why the NFL’s Most Popular Name is a Former Alabama Player