Up next for Nate Oats’ Alabama Crimson Tide is a trip to Austin to face the Texas Longhorns for the first time as SEC opponents.
Alabama (20-3 overall, 9-1 SEC) moved up two spots to No. 1 in Monday’s new USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll and is No. 2 in this week’s AP Top 25 poll, which kept the Auburn Tigers at No. 1 with Alabama at No. 2.
But before the Tide and Tigers square off in Tuscaloosa for the biggest Iron Bowl of Basketball in history is a tough road contest against a Texas (15-9, 4-7) team that sits on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament. A win by Rodney Terry’s Longhorns would go a long way in boosting Texas’ tournament hopes.
Ahead of Alabama vs. Texas, ESPN Analytics’ Matchup Predictor, which offers a prediction model based on its Men’s College Basketball Power Index ratings, gave the Crimson Tide a 54.1 percent chance to beat the Longhorns at Moody Center.
ESPN defines its BPI ratings as a “measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of performance going forward. BPI represents how many points above or below average a team is.”
Alabama is No. 6 in ESPN’s BPI ratings while Texas is No. 27. In the NET rankings, Alabama is No. 6 with Texas at No. 31.
The Crimson Tide escaped a late run by the Arkansas Razorbacks to close out an 85-81 victory at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville last Saturday. Grant Nelson and Chris Youngblood had 15 points apiece, and Alabama got 14 from Mouhamed Dioubate in 15 minutes.
Texas is coming off back-to-back losses, 78-70 to Arkansas last Wednesday and 86-78 at Vanderbilt on Saturday.
Tipoff for Alabama vs. Texas is scheduled for 8 p.m. CT Tuesday at Moody Center. The game will be televised on ESPN. Karl Ravech and Jimmy Dykes will have the TV call of Alabama-Texas.
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This article originally appeared on Roll Tide Wire: Alabama basketball odds of beating Texas Longhorns, per ESPN
