Saturday night in Birmingham, the Alabama Crimson Tide had an opportunity to lay down a claim as the SEC's best team. Alabama blew it, statistically, by being dominated on the boards and generally by not being tough enough to battle an elite opponent.
After the game, Nate Oats said, "We’ve got rebounding issues. Until we fix them, we’re not really gonna be able to beat a good team." The comment was correct and a repeat of earlier post-game comments after losses to other top teams. Credit Oats for his out-of-conference scheduling, chosen to reveal his team's weaknesses.