Paul Finebaum addresses Alabama's struggles to end the regular season

Alabama is still playing at a level that’s worthy of a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. However, considering the Crimson Tide dropped two of their last six games while their margin of victory has shrunk significantly, Paul Finebaum believes there could be some chinks in their armor.

Finebaum didn’t overreact to their 67-61 season-ending loss to Texas A&M this weekend in an appearance on ‘McElroy and Cubelic In The Morning’. Even so, he does say how they’ve looked as of late might suggest that some of their off-court issues might finally be having an effect on their play. He also added that they might not even be sure if the problems are fixable until the start of the NCAA Tournament.

“I think off of the emotional win at home, wrapping up the SEC? This was expected,” Finebaum said. “I mean you could see the Vegas board before the game pointing toward A&M. So I don’t want to act like anyone really should be surprised. I don’t think it was a big upset.”

“The bigger question is the play of Alabama recently. There do seem to be some indicators that have to worry you if you’re Nate Oats,” said Finebaum. “You don’t know whether if it’s just have they possibly hit a slight wall? Or are the off the court distractions beginning to weigh the team down? I don’t think we’ll learn that in Nashville either.”

Heading to Knoxville, Alabama was 22-3 with a significant margin of victory against good and bad teams alike. Since then, they haven’t looked nearly as convincing. The Tide have dropped two, albeit against Tennessee and A&M on the road, but, besides a 49-point blowout of Georgia, their margin of victory in the other five games during that stretch is negative considering all the outcomes have come within just a possession or two.

There were already a few concerns about Oats’ team in the postseason considering their youth and style. If they stay in this recent funk, though, Alabama’s ceiling in the postseason could lower dramatically in March.