Vanderbilt at Alabama preview
When
Tuesday January 21
6:00 p.m. CST
Or
Coleman Coliseum
The House of “This Saban$ Football Has to Go Somewhere”
TV/Streaming
Radio
106.3 FM locally
SiriusXM 382 for Vandy Broadcast
Rankings
Alabama enters the game ranked 4th in the AP Poll
Kenpom has Vanderbilt at 48 while the Tide is 8th.
The valuable NET rankings place Nate Oat’s team at 7th, while Byington’s team comes in at 37th.
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How we got here
The Tide comes into this game coming off a huge 102-97 road win Saturday at Kentucky. It was Alabama’s 15th regular season victory, improving it to 4-1 in the SEC. Their defeats this year were inflicted by Purdue, Oregon and Ole Miss (during a shock last week at home where the Rebels pulled off a 74-64 upset). Alabama is a very similar team to the one we’ve been watching Nate Oat a very fast paced team so far that is NOT afraid to get up from 3 at any time.
THE Marc Byington The era is officially underway in Nashville after the first-year coach earned his biggest win by far to date, upsetting local rival T*nn*ss** on Saturday 76-75 in nerve-wracking fashion. It moves Byington at 1-0 all time against Rick Barnes‘ and the v*L* and the #1 in the hearts of Vanderbilt fans. Saturday’s win (the first game of the toughest stretch of the season so far) improved Vandy to 15-3 on the season and 3-2 in the SEC.
What to expect
Alabama is, once again this season, among the elite in college basketball, with a roster as deep as any you’ll find in the country. They rank 2nd in offense, 4th in 2 point percentage and average 10 3s per game. The Tide leads in scoring by guard Marc Searsbut have 5 players averaging double digits and 8 players averaging 7+ points per game. The key for Alabama in this game will be to continue to get out in transition and force Vanderbilt into 1 possession attempt, without giving up any second chance points. This Tide team also excels in offensive rebounding (4th) in the country. Expect a barrage of shot attempts from this team as they are not afraid to put the ball in the air.
At Vandy, we did it! We finally came out strong at the start of the match finally!! Saturday was the perfect use of Byington system, being able to score at will against a solid opposing defense. The part of the game I didn’t expect, and if it continues, will change my expectations a bit for the year, is the physicality Vanderbilt showed in the last two games. Jaylen Carey has been incredible the last two games, playing really “angry”, which is something this team desperately needs. Vandy’s keys this week will continue to hit shots, especially early. If we fall behind early, this game could get ugly quickly, so the Dores need to build an early lead and try to maintain it for the rest of the game. For Vanderbilt to win, they need to create plenty of turnovers on long outlet passes in transition and hit their shots to the other side of the court.
Chief Miller’s Prediction
82-71 Tide
Picking Bama to win doesn’t reflect where Vandy is as a program, this team is just plain good.
