Jay Bilas omits top school when discussing best in college basketball

The current college basketball AP Top 25 features Auburn and Alabama at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, with Duke and Florida tied at No. 3. 

The Tigers are 22-2 and have a huge matchup with the 21-3 Crimson Tide coming up this weekend. The Blue Devils are 21-3 and feature one of the best young rosters in college basketball with likely No. 1 pick in the next NBA draft, Cooper Flagg, leading the way.

All three teams, plus the 21-3 Gators, deserve to be mentioned amongst the top teams in college basketball and after this weekend's matchup between the Tigers and Crimson Tide there may be a consensus.

Interestingly enough, though, ESPN's Jay Bilas recently omitted Alabama when discussing college basketball's top teams this season. He considers Auburn and Duke the favorites, and didn't even mention the Tide in a recent appearance on ESPN's "Get Up".

“I think it’s Duke and Auburn and we’ll start with Duke. They’re young. Their best players are their youngest players, but they are big, they’re super athletic, and they’re excellent defensively," Bilas said (h/t On3).

He then went on to speak about Auburn. Again, notably not mentioning Alabama.

“Auburn has been the most consistent at the highest level all season long,” Bilas continued. “They’ve played arguably the toughest schedule in college basketball. Seems like every game they’ve played is a Quad 1 game, and they’ve performed really well against it."

If Nate Oats' Alabama team feels slighted by this, the Tide will have a chance to prove any doubters wrong this weekend. They'll also get another shot against Auburn to end the season, with games against No. 21 Missouri, No. 15 Kentucky, No. 22 Mississippi State, No. 5 Tennessee and No. 3 Florida sandwiched in between.

Is Alabama the country's best team? We'll soon find out one way or the other.