The NCAA Tournament bracket was released on Sunday, which means that it’s the most wonderful time of year for college basketball fans. All around the country, people are poring over the stats and searching for the picks that will help them win their office pool, and the action tips off tonight in Dayton with matchups between UMBC and Howard, and Texas and NC State.
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One team that many people were high on heading into Selection Sunday was Alabama. Head coach Nate Oats has built this program from the ground up, and in the last three years the Crimson Tide has gone to the Sweet Sixteen, Final Four and Elite Eight, in order. As a 4-seed and the highest-scoring team in the country this year, they’re again positioned to make a run.
Unfortunately for the Tide, it looks like they’re going to be without star guard Aden Holloway, who was arrested Monday morning on first-degree possession of marijuana-not for personal use, a Class C felony which carries a possible 10-year sentence and $15,000 fine.
On Get Up this morning, ESPN’s Peter Schrager admitted that he had Bama going to the Final Four, but he was advised by college basketball analyst Sean Farnham, “I think you need to change that pick and change it immediately.”
That may sound like an overreaction to losing one player, but Holloway has been one of the most vital guys on Alabama’s roster. “Aden Holloway is averaging almost 17 points per game, shooting 43% from beyond the arc — you can’t replace those numbers. You just can’t,” Farnham said.
That will have a cascading effect on the rest of the team, especially as Oats scrambles to adjust on such short notice. Without him, Farnham explained, “The offense steps back, just ever so slightly. Still gonna be a very explosive offense, but it’s gonna step back a little bit. What it also means is that a team like Alabama that has struggled on the defensive end of the floor, their margins have now gotten thinner.”
The Tide are still heavily favored in their first-round matchup against 13-seeded Hofstra, but a possible second-round matchup with Texas Tech (also without its best player, JT Toppin, who is out for the year with a torn ACL) will be that much tougher.
Anything can happen in the NCAA Tournament, so Bama can’t even feel safe in their first game. If they can find a way to get back to the Sweet Sixteen, though, there’s a chance they could have Holloway back.
Oats said, “We are preparing to play without him this weekend,” meaning if the investigation wraps up and Holloway is freed, he could have a chance to come back for the tournament’s second weekend.
Every team is dealing with some form of adversity this time of year. No team wants to lose one of its best players right before the Big Dance, especially due to something like this. We’ll see if Bama is able to advance far enough for enough for Holloway to come back, but in the meantime, be careful filling out those brackets.
