Joe Lunardi is the expert of all experts when it comes to college basketball. He like many others, have recently made their way too early brackets for the 2022 NCAA Tournament. Alabama lands at a No. 1 seed, and Lunardi also had them 2nd overall in the entire field. The expectations will be high for this new squad for the Crimson Tide, following a historic season for the program lead by second-year head coach Nate Oats.

Many college experts have Alabama in their way too early top 10 too. This is not by mistake either, as the Tide add major weapons in JD Davison, Charles Bediako, and Jusaun Holt in this past recruiting class. Not to mention they added two huge transfers with Nimari Burnett from Texas Tech and Noah Gurley from Furman.

The team will have several familiar faces, but they will have a good mix of veteran leadership as well. The team will be lead by Jahvon Quinerly, Keon Ellis, Juwan Gary, James Rojas, Joshua Primo, and possibly Jaden Shackelford should he decide to stay. The team last season was lead by four seniors, so they will certainly miss their presence. However, when you add these elite recruits mixed with talented experienced transfers you get something special. The repeat of the SEC regular season and tournament championship may be difficult, but Oats can lead this team to another historic season.

Alabama has an early season tournament in Orlando with the likes of, Kansas, Dayton, Iona, Georgetown, and Miami. This is a chance for Oats and his squad to prove their believers right and their doubters wrong. The landscape has changed here at Alabama under Oats, and now it is time to show the rest of the basketball world that they could be here to stay.

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