Alabama football is grabbing a lot of headlines right now. But, Crimson Tide men’s basketball will face a crucial test in Tuscaloosa tonight. That’s when Alabama plays Purdue. The Boilermakers made the Final Four last year. That’s when the Tide got in for the first time. More recently, Alabama lost to Purdue a year ago. Head coach Nate Oats says the Tide will likely have its hands full with its number one ranked opponent.
“We're probably better off being an underdog. Will probably be an underdog at home against Purdue,” Oats said following the Tide’s victory over St. Johns. “I mean, the way they handle this last year, you know, up there, we are an underdog here, we may be an underdog at home. You know, probably an underdog in Chicago against Illinois.”
Alabama will go on the road to face Illinois next week. Tonight’s Tide versus Purdue game comes following Labaron Philon’s twenty five points in Alabama's 103-96 win over the St. John's Red Storm. Alabama finished 28-9 overall last season while going 12-3 at home. The Crimson Tide averaged 12.2 points off of turnovers, 13.3 second-chance points and 33.8 bench points last season. Coach Oats says how the Tide does tonight and going forward depends on Philon.
“We're going to test ourselves early," he said. "We're going to see we're made about but, but he wants to win at the highest level, and then, you know, the biggest thing I think he (Philon) needs to make a jump on with his leadership, a lot of enthusiasm for the game, like guys love playing with him. Always been a great teammate.”
Purdue at Alabama could be the type of game fans might see in late March between two potential Final Four-caliber teams. The early part of the basketball season has become dotted with marquee matchups as teams try to test themselves and build resumes for March. The second week of the 2025-26 season will feature two rivalry games among the seven games between AP Top 25 teams.
No. 12 Louisville and No. 9 Kentucky have had one of the sport's fiercest rivalries through the years and it will continue on Tuesday in Louisville. The Cardinals made it to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in six years in their first season under coach Pat Kelsey a year ago and are off to fast start with a revamped roster. Louisville opened the season with a blowout win by holding South Carolina State to 45 points and followed that up with another rout over Jackson State.
Kentucky reached the Sweet 16 in its first season under coach Mark Pope last season and has another talented team this year, led by high-scoring guard Otega Oweh. The Wildcats opened with lopsided wins over Nichols and Valparaiso, so this will be the first big test for both teams. Out West, No. 5 Arizona and No. 15 UCLA had some heated matchups while in the Pac-12 and decided to continue their rivalry now that the Bruins are in the Big Ten and the Wildcats are in the Big 12. The Wildcats had one of the biggest jumps in this week's AP Top 25, climbing eight spots after an impressive win over then-No. 3 Florida in Las Vegas behind freshman Koa Peat's 30-point game.
The Bruins lost a lot from last year's NCAA Tournament team, but coach Mick Cronin reloaded through the transfer portal, adding former New Mexico guard Donovan Dent and former Oregon State forward Tyler Bilodeau. Thursday's game at the Intuit Dome in the Hall of Fame Series will honor late UCLA Hall of Famer Bill Walton.
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Houston moved to No. 1 in the first regular-season poll despite having half as many first-place votes (18) as Purdue (36), leapfrogging the Boilermakers by earning three more points overall. The Cougars will get a big test this week. After hosting Oakland on Wednesday,
Houston heads to Birmingham, Alabama to face No. 22 Auburn. The Tigers got off to a tough start in their first season under Steven Pearl, needing overtime to beat Bethune-Cookman, but bounced back with a lopsided win over Merrimack.
UCF transfer Keyshawn Hall was superb his first two games with Auburn, averaging 26.5 points and 11 rebounds, but faces one of the nation's toughest defenses against the Cougars.
BYU freshman AJ Dybantsa has lived up to his billing as the nation's top recruit, leading the No. 7 Cougars with 19.0 points and 7.0 rebounds the first two games. The preseason AP All-American will face his toughest challenge of the young season against No. 3 UConn. The Huskies returned Solo Ball and Alex Karaban this season, while adding transfer guards Silas Demary Jr. and Malachi Smith to become better defensively on the perimeter.UConn (3-0) is holding teams to 56.4 points per game after beating Columbia 89-62 on Monday night.
In case those games weren't enough, this week has three more games between ranked teams. No. 11 Texas Tech at No. 14 Illinois on Tuesday will likely be fast paced and high scoring, even if we won't get to see the Illini's Tomislav Ivisic (injured) go toe to toe with Red Raiders preseason All-American JT Toppin.
No. 23 Creighton at No. 19 Gonzaga on Thursday will feature two of the game's best coaches and most efficient teams.
