Nate Oats on his pitch for Alabama to move to No. 1: 'I don't really care'
As No. 3 Alabama held on to defeat Arkansas on Saturday night in Fayetteville, the ESPN crew was sure the Crimson Tide (20-3, 9-1 SEC) would move to No. 1 in next week’s rankings.
Earlier Saturday, both No. 1 Auburn and No. 2 Duke lost to Florida and Clemson, respectively, while Alabama defeated Arkansas, 85-81, in Bud Walton Arena. Alabama and Duke now have the same overall records, while Auburn dropped to 21-2 after its first SEC loss of the year.
The Tide might have been the last top-three team standing, but Alabama head coach Nate Oats didn’t advocate for his team, winners of six straight games, to move into the No. 1 spot.
“I don’t really care, to be honest with you,” Oats said. “I’m probably not going to make a pitch.”
Alabama can make a strong claim for the nation’s top-ranked team. The Crimson Tide has now scored 85 or more points in six straight road games, which is the longest single-season streak in SEC history. UA is also 9-1 to begin conference play for the third time during Oats’ tenure as the head coach but just the fourth time since the 1986-87 basketball season.
Auburn and Duke, however, have also put together stellar campaigns prior to their losses.
The AP Top 25 Poll ultimately doesn’t matter. It won’t decide the NCAA Tournament seeding on Selection Sunday. So it’s not surprising that Oats isn’t worried about where Alabama is ranked with eight games left to play in the regular season, plus the SEC Tournament.
But he did tune it to watch No. 6 Florida upset the top-ranked Tigers, 90-81, in Neville Arena and is fully aware that with its win in Fayetteville, Alabama is now tied for the SEC lead.
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“I try to watch SEC games when we’ve got a late game,” Oats said. “Florida came in ready to play. So now we’re tied, and we gotta just take care of business.
“We’ve got full control of our own destiny to win the SEC right now.”
Alabama will welcome Auburn to Coleman Coliseum on Saturday, February 15, for what could be a battle between the nation’s top two teams. College GameDay will be in town for the rivalry game, and the winner, if they win their midweek matchup, will be in first place with six games to go. The Tide and Tigers will also face off to conclude the regular season.
Like Monday’s AP Poll, Oats isn’t thinking about the Iron Bowl of Basketball. At least not yet. In order to have a chance to climb atop the SEC standings, Alabama needs to close its two-game road trip with a with over Texas on Tuesday, February 11 (8 p.m. CT on ESPN).
“Wherever the voters want to put us, it doesn’t matter,” Oats said. “I mean, we’ll be one, two or three, that’s for sure. And I don’t really care. Let’s focus on Texas. Let’s try to win an SEC regular-season championship and let all that other stuff fall where it may.”
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