Crimson Tide Basketball by the Numbers

Last season didn't end how the Alabama Crimson Tide wanted it to. Although finishing the year with 23 wins (going 12-6 in conference play) and ending up 3rd in the Southeastern Conference regular season standings, the Tide did not get selected on one of the most famous Sundays in all of sports.

One reason for their dismissal to the big dance was their below average record out of conference, a mediocre-looking 11-7. No good wins during the non-conference schedule and one too many bad losses was enough to condemn Alabama to the National Invitation Tournament yet again under the reign of Anthony Grant.

The Tide are 17 games into this season now, with a pedestrian record of 8-9. Compare that to an 11-6 record from the previous year at the same point. On paper (and most would say logically) this doesn't bode well for Coach Grant and the Tide. In fact, many are jumping on the "Fire Anthony Grant" bandwagon. But is it really justified, or are some people just prisoners of the moment?

Let's be honest; Alabama basketball isn't the most prestigious program in the country. Even with great basketball minds such as C.M. Newton and Wimp Sanderson, this program has always struggled, relative to the rest of the basketball world. Contrary to popular belief, the Crimson Tide have reached the Elite 8 in the NCAA tournament only once in the program's 101 year history, and that was with Mark Gottfried at the helm in 2004.

With that being said, Alabama does have the 2nd most wins in conference history, obviously behind the University of Kentucky, but not as far behind as you may think. A program record of 1,568-950-1 (.623) is not something to be embarrassed about by any means, and in fact, one should definitely be proud of this. However, a basketball program, just like in any sport, is ultimately judged by what it does in the postseason.

Alabama has only eight Sweet 16 appearances, going 1-7 in such games. Moreover, they have only made the NCAA Tournament 20 times (*note: all these appearances refer to the NCAA Tournament, which became the de facto national championship tournament in the 1950s. The National Invitation Tournament was considered a prestigious tournament for teams that did not qualify for the NCAA Tournament when the NCAA would not allow multiple teams from the same conference to enter their tournament).

That's a good enough history lesson for now. The Crimson Tide have, unfortunately, been less than spectacular the past few seasons. Alabama has two NIT appearances (which isn't near as prestigious as it used to be in the past) and only one NCAA Tournament appearance under Coach Grant. Coincidentally, he has made the postseason in three of his first five seasons as the head coach of the University of Alabama; this, however, is a better percentage than C.M. Newton had.

Moving on to this season, the Tide haven't been exactly spectacular, statistically speaking. Ranked 223rd or worse in points/game, rebounds/game, and assists/game, Alabama isn't playing an exciting brand of basketball, to say the least. However, this isn't unusual for the ones who have followed Tide Basketball over the years.

It should also be noted that Alabama doesn't have a single "bad" loss thus far in the season (the worst being against a 10-8 American Athletic Conference team in South Florida), according to ESPN's Basketball Power Index. As it has the past few seasons, one bad loss has kept the Tide from getting the proper ranking that they have deserved each year.

All this being said, Alabama will have a great opportunity to show the selection committee that they can play Thursday night against the 6th ranked Florida Gators (15-2). Tip-off is set for 7 PM ET/6 PM CT.