By Adeniyi Precious 
Alabama Basketball still has some work to do before March Madness, but Crimson Tide fans are already locked in on their tournament seeding. Right now, Bama is looking at either a No. 1 or No. 2 seed. If they don’t win any games in the SEC Tournament, a 2-seed is still likely. But if they want that top seed, they’ll probably need to win at least two games in Nashville.
If Kentucky takes care of business against either Oklahoma or Georgia, beating the Wildcats on Friday might not be enough. A win against Florida on Saturday—or the Gators getting knocked out before then—could secure Alabama’s No. 1 seed. A victory in the Iron Bowl of Basketball (IBOB) on Sunday would be great, but it won’t affect their NCAA Tournament placement.
Before their big win over Auburn, Alabama had been struggling, going 2-4 in their last six games. But that skid wasn’t as bad as it looked. The Tide has played the toughest schedule in college basketball, and other top teams would’ve likely had similar struggles against that same slate of games.
And here’s something that might surprise people: No other national championship contender has been as successful on the road as Alabama.
Alabama’s Road Wins Are Second to None
ESPN’s analytics model shows that 10 teams have a better than 9.8% chance of reaching the Final Four. Alabama is right in the mix with a 22.3% probability—fifth-best overall, just behind Florida (25.6%) and ahead of Tennessee (22.1%).
When looking at road game records among these contenders, Houston leads the pack at 10-0, followed by Duke (10-1). Alabama is right there at 9-3, better than Florida (7-3), Tennessee (6-5), and Arizona (6-5).
But what really sets Alabama apart is the quality of those road wins. Houston has impressive road victories over Arizona (No. 13) and Texas Tech (No. 7). Florida’s biggest road wins were against Auburn (No. 2) and Alabama (No. 6). Auburn, Tennessee, and Texas Tech each have two quality road wins, while Duke has just one—against Arizona back in November.
Alabama? They’ve beaten six top-40 teams on the road:
Auburn (No. 2)
Kentucky (No. 12)
Texas A&M (No. 16)
Mississippi State (No. 34)
Arkansas (No. 39)
North Carolina (No. 40)
And let’s not forget a neutral-site win over Houston (No. 3).
Built for Hostile Environments
Coach Nate Oats has talked about how his team thrives in tough road atmospheres. That could be a major advantage in the NCAA Tournament, where every game is essentially on the road. If that mentality carries over into March, Alabama might have the edge they need to go deep in the Big Dance.