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Feb 8, 2025; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats during the first half against the Arkansas Razorbacks at Bud Walton Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images

Where Alabama Lands in Joe Lunardi's Third 2025-26 Bracketology

Originally posted on Alabama Crimson Tide on SI
By Hunter De | Last updated Jun 24, 2025 11:16 AM ET

Alabama men's basketball started its summer training nearly two weeks ago and looks to build off last season's 28-9 (13-5 SEC) record, as the No. 2 seed in the East Region of the NCAA Tournament advanced to the Elite Eight before falling to 1-seed Duke.

And speaking of March Madness, ESPN's Joe Lunardi released his initial bracketology for the 2025-26 season on April 29––placing Alabama as the No. 6 seed in the East Region. On May 20, three weeks after the Crimson Tide added former Tarleton State forward Keitenn Bristow from the transfer portal, Lunardi lowered Alabama's placement to the No. 8 seed in the East Region, which would be the worst NCAA Tournament seed in the Nate Oats era.

However, a couple of changes have been made by the Crimson Tide since Lunardi's second list, as Alabama hired Chris Fleming as an assistant coach on May 21, added Northern Oklahoma transfer guard Preston Murphy Jr. on June 17, brought in another freshman in 4-star center Collins Onyejiaka on June 20, and perhaps most notably this offseason on May 28, brought back guard Labaron Philon, who was previously in the middle of the NBA Draft process but withdrew.

The return of Philon plus Alabama's other offseason moves helped the Crimson Tide move up in various way-too-early top 25 lists, but did the other transactions enhance the program in Lunardi's third bracketology of the offseason, which was released on Tuesday?

It sure did, as Alabama is now Lunardi's 5-seed in the West region––a remarkable improvement. Lunardi had Alabama facing 11-seed Memphis and 9-seed Creighton in the first round of the initial and second bracketology respectively, but now that the Tide has risen, he has UA battling 12-seed Grant Canyon––the program Alabama faced in the 2024 Round of 32. With this in mind here's the Crimson Tide's potential quadrant.

Lunardi's West Region:

1-seed Duke vs. 16-seed Vermont/Jackson State
8-seed Vanderbilt vs. 9-seed Baylor
5-seed Alabama vs. 12-seed Grand Canyon
4-seed UCLA vs. 13-seed UC Santa Barbara
6-seed Ohio State vs. 11-seed VCU
3-seed Arizona vs. 14-seed Troy
7-seed USC vs. 10-seed Ole Miss
2-seed Tennessee vs. 15-seed Florida Gulf Coast

After a record-shattering 14 SEC teams made the 2025 NCAA Tournament, Lunardi believes the conference will impress again with 14 programs reaching March Madness in 2026. The Big Ten is right behind with 11, followed by the Big 12 with eight, the ACC logging six and the Big East being represented by three schools.

Alabama was tied as the SEC's sixth-best team in Lunardi's initial post and was tied for eighth in the second. Now, the Crimson Tide is tied with Arkansas as the fifth-highest seed in the conference.