Alabama Will Coast Against Texas

Alabama vs Texas, 9:00 ET

I know there are certainly some of us out there that have the Super Bowl blues. Not necessarily because our team didn't win, but because that marked the end of another football season. Now what are we supposed to do for watching and for fun over the next few weeks until baseball starts and hockey resumes? The scheduling folks for college basketball must've recognized it and rewarded us with a beautiful slate, full of ranked teams not only playing but facing off. This isn't one of the ones where they face each other, but this is a game where one of 15 ranked teams take the floor as Alabama takes on Texas.

Alabama has been one of the more highly ranked teams for the majority of the season. After Duke lost on Saturday, and Iowa State has struggled over the past few weeks, Alabama has catapulted themselves to the #2 seed in the nation. Alabama has a 20-3 record for the season and has been dominant. They also are 9-1 in conference play, and in case you haven't noticed, the SEC is one of the best conferences in the sport. Alabama has won six straight games, and won 14 of their past 15 games. The three losses this year were at the hands of Purdue, Oregon, and Ole Miss. The Purdue loss was one on the road, and they dropped the game by nine points. They fell to Oregon in the Thanksgiving tournament, a game they lost by two on a neutral court. The other loss, to Ole Miss, came on Alabama's home court. A 10-point loss to them was a bit surprising, but you had to expect they would likely lose at least one of the games during a stretch where they faced four ranked teams in five games. Now they have this last game against Texas before they go on a brutal stretch to close the year. They end this season with seven games, all against ranked opponents. Included in that stretch is Auburn twice, Tennessee, and Florida. It will be quite a challenge so a win here will go a long way. 

Feb 8, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Texas Longhorns forward Devon Pryor (22) dunks the ball over Vanderbilt Commodores guard Jason Edwards (1) during the second half at Memorial Gymnasium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Texas doesn't have the same level of talent or success that Alabama has experienced this season. The Longhorns are not having a bad season, but I also wouldn't think most boosters are very happy about how the year is turning out. They started the season with a neutral court loss and have run their record to 15-9 at the moment. They are also struggling in the tough SEC with a sub-par 4-7 record. Obviously by the records you can see that they were 11-2 coming into SEC play. Since then they've won just four of their past 11 games and have lost three of their past four. They have been better at home, as you'd expect, but they have just two wins at home against SEC opponents. To their credit, they've won their past two home games against ranked opponents, beating Missouri by eight and squeaking past Texas A&M by one point. Tre Johnson, their guard, is averaging 19 points per game and has led them for the past six games. He's one of the better shooters in the game, but he needs help from the rest of his team. Even if he neutralizes what Mark Sears from Alabama puts up, the rest of the team will have a challenge against Alabama to find ways to score.

This is not going to be the biggest challenge that Alabama faces the rest of the season, but it also won't be a cakewalk either. Alabama is playing good basketball here and can't afford to look ahead at the upcoming schedule. I'm taking the Alabama to win this one on the road at -4.5. I think you like Texas, you need to just take the moneyline as I expect Alabama to win by 10 or more or lose outright.

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