Anthony Grant and the Crimson Tide basketball team received a huge commitment on Friday from 6'9" forward Jimmie Taylor of Greensboro. Taylor is considered to be one of the top 30 juniors in the entire country, and if his rating holds through his senior year, he would be the highest rated player to come out of the state since former Kentucky star DeMarcus Cousins.

Taylor had already received offers from most SEC schools in addition to Georgetown and Miami, and is also being recruited by Kentucky and North Carolina among others. The key term there is "is"--even though most top high school basketball players sign before their senior season begins, that date is still six months away for Taylor and other juniors, and undoubtedly these same schools will continue to recruit him until that date, so nothing is guaranteed here.

Still, the commitment is a great sign, and helps to shape up what will be a very important 2013 class for the program. Another forward, 6'8" Shannon Hale of Johnson City, Tennessee, has already committed to being a part of the Tide's 2013 class. With as many as four or five scholarships to give in that class, and the staff still recruiting several highly-regarded prospects, there is sure to be more news to come between now and November's early signing period regarding the 2013 basketball recruiting class.

Whatever happens in that class, however, none of those players will be eligible to suit up next season. It's a different story for the 2012 class, though. As usual, most top high school players signed before the season began, but since the Tide had only one senior on this year's roster, Anthony Grant and staff held off during the early signing period and didn't sign anyone, continuing to hold a spot for the staff's top target, 5-star forward Devonta Pollard of Portersville, Mississippi.

Pollard is considered to be among the top 25 seniors in the county, and his signature would probably signify the biggest Alabama basketball recruiting coup since Mo Williams was signed out of the same state a decade earlier. However, Pollard has dragged his recruitment into literally the final days of the late signing period. Remember, most seniors sign before the season, and most of those who don't sign toward the beginning of the month-long late signing period that runs from mid-April to mid-May. The late signing period ends on Wednesday, and at this point only three of the nation's top 60 seniors have yet to sign--and Pollard is still one of them.

Again, Pollard has seemingly been the staff's #1 target all along to assume the scholarship spot vacated by the expected graduation of senior JaMychal Green, and as such they have been heavily recruiting him literally for years at this point. However, many believed the 6'7" wing player to be a Mississippi State lean for most of his recruitment, but the departure of coach Rick Stansbury following last season's debacle seemingly removed them from the picture.

Pollard is now reportedly down to four finalists for his signature: Alabama, Texas, Georgetown, and Missouri. Pollard has kept extremely tight-lipped and to this date has still not even announced when he will make his decision public. Many recruiting experts believe Alabama to be the favorite, especially after Missouri filled their final scholarship spot and Georgetown lost the assistant coach who had been most involved in Pollard's recruitment, but Texas and ace recruiter Rick Barnes may still pose a major threat.

If Pollard signs a letter of intent anywhere, he'll have to do so by Wednesday's deadline. However, as some have pointed out, a player doesn't technically have to sign a LOI. If a school still has scholarship spots (and Alabama has not just one but now three of them after the somewhat unexpected departures of Tony Mitchell and Charles Hankerson) then a player could conceivably just enroll at that school in the fall and use one of the scholarships without ever signing anything or even making a decision fully public. If Pollard takes the usual route and signs with a school, we'll all find out by Wednesday at the latest if Anthony Grant has indeed inked a major talent to boost next year's squad, or if all this effort will have been for naught. But if Pollard elects to go the unorthodox route of sidestepping the LOI process, who knows how long this saga could drag on.

March Madness gets fully underway today. Chime in here with all comments and updates on today's afternoon games as we count down to Alabama-Creighton tomorrow afternoon.

Update: we'll just keep this thread going for evening games. See lineup below.

It's here, folks. Selection Sunday. CBS will be continuing their coverage following the B1G Tournament title game leading right up to the Selection Show itself beginning at 5:00 pm CST. Tune in and chime in here with comments and updates.

One of America's biggest sporting events is upon us, and after a roller coaster season, the Tide has given us the chance to see our team take part in this spectacle once again. This evening we'll find out where Alabama will land in the bracket, and who the Tide will be forced to challenge when the Madness gets fully underway later this week.

Hope for the best, and Roll Tide!

Note: CBS will be filling in the bracket live here

We're now only one day away from Selection Sunday, and the Tide is considered a lock by virtually every bracket expert out there. This has been probably the most roller coaster season in memory for this program, but Alabama fans should take a moment today or tomorrow if they haven't already and let this sink in: the Alabama Crimson Tide will be back in March Madness next week, and regardless of where we're seeded that's a real, real good feeling. Roll Tide to that.

Below we'll take a very brief look at where Bama stands today according to the experts, and tomorrow morning we'll have a full-blown analysis as well as an examination of potential opponents the Tide could face.

Latest RPI rankings

Latest bracket projections

• As of last night's update, ESPN's Joe Lunardi has the Tide as a #9 seed in his latest bracketology projection.
• As of today's update, CBS's Jerry Palm had the Tide as a #9 seed in his latest bracketology projection.
• As of today's update, SI's Andy Glockner had the Tide as a #9 seed in his latest bracketology projection.

We've been following these three bracketologists all season, and for the first time ever, they're all in agreement: Alabama stands at a 9 seed right now. That is unlikely to change much between now and tomorrow because there simply aren't many teams around Alabama still playing this weekend. Again, we'll have full-blown coverage ready to go tomorrow morning. Selection Sunday is now mere hours away. Roll Tide.

The SEC Tournament gets underway tomorrow in New Orleans, with eleven games in four days, concluding with one team cutting down the nets just hours before the NCAA Tournament Selection Show. Below are some key questions to look for this week:

What happens if Bama falls to South Carolina? Alabama finished 5th place in the SEC this year, meaning the Tide just missed the cut for a bye on Thursday. Bama's reward for being the highest seed to play on Thursday? Facing the Gamecocks, who finished dead last in the league with a 2-14 conference record. As for Bama's chances of advancing in the SEC Tournament, this is indeed a reward, but as for Alabama's NCAA Tournament seeding, this game does Alabama absolutely no good. A win won't help Alabama's seeding even one iota, as a win over a team ranked nearly 200th in the RPI isn't going to leapfrog Alabama over any teams currently projected to be 7 or 8 seeds. A loss to such a team, however, would be devastating.

Right now Alabama's loss to South Carolina is by far the biggest blemish on the Tide's resume. A second loss to the Gamecocks would raise serious red flags for the selection committee. It is doubtful this would push Bama all the way out of the field, but it would push Alabama down fairly close to the cut line and might even put the Tide in danger of getting placed in one of the play-in games. Some fans have pointed out (correctly, I will admit) that this could potentially be a good thing, as a 10 or 11 seed often gives a team a better chance of advancing to the Sweet 16 than an 8 or 9 seed. As a cautious Alabama fan, though, I know I want no part in playing with that fire. There may not be a great chance of Alabama missing the field or getting put in the play-in game with a loss to South Carolina, but it's a chance nonetheless and not one I think we want to take.

How high can Bama climb in the seeding with a strong performance in New Orleans? Surviving the South Carolina game on Thursday but then losing to Florida on Friday would leave the Tide's resume pretty static, possibly even dropping Bama a seed or so. But what if Alabama can take down the Gators? Beating Florida, projected to be around a 6 or 7 seed, would definitely be a big feather in Bama's cap, possibly even becoming the 2nd-best win on the resume behind the win over Wichita State, who are projected around a 4 or 5 seed. Getting this win should at minimum keep Alabama in the 8/9 range, and would give the Tide a very good shot at possibly moving up to a 7 seed depending on what other teams do, which would allow Bama to avoid playing a 1 seed in the 2nd round of the Big Dance.

Of course, if Alabama does get beyond Florida, Kentucky would in all likelihood be the Tide's opponent on Saturday (does anyone really give Arkansas or LSU--both slumping at the moment--a chance at the upset Friday?). Being the first team to beat the #1 Wildcats in over 20 games would be big beyond words. At that point, a 7 seed would seem a guarantee and Bama would probably be in the conversation for a coveted 6 seed. At any rate, if Bama wants to get any higher than a 7 seed, a win over the Wildcats will probably be required. To feel assured of a 6 seed, Alabama might need to win the whole SEC Tournament.

Can anyone stop Kentucky? The Cats went through conference play with a very rare 16-0 mark. Whether they can top it off with yet another SEC Tournament title most likely depends on their own mentality. They already have the SEC championship for this season, they already have a #1 seed for the NCAA Tournament sewed up, so many are asking, "what does Kentucky have to play for?" You could argue the #1 overall seed is at stake between Kentucky and Syracuse, but really that matters very little as both teams will get to play close to home through the first two weekends of the NCAA Tournament. If Kentucky comes out flat and uninspired, they could certainly fall victim to one of the teams in the top half of the league under the right circumstances.

If the Cats do come focused and hungry, though, they're still a very good bet to win the whole thing. New Orleans is a little further from Big Blue country than typical SEC Tournament sites Atlanta and Nashville, but still, you know the vast majority of New Orleans Arena is going to be packed with blue as thousands upon thousands of Kentucky fans create a virtual home atmosphere for the Cats. That combined with the fact that there are no sure-fire top-15 type teams in the league might make it very difficult to wager on the field against the Cats in this one.

What do the SEC bubble teams need to do? The SEC team most squarely on the bubble entering the SEC Tournament in Mississippi State. The Bulldogs limped to the finish in league play but managed to crack .500 after knocking off lowly South Carolina and slumping Arkansas in the final week. Most bracketologists have them as one of the very last teams in the field right now, so they can't afford to fall any further. This means at minimum the Bulldogs need to get a win in their opener against a Georgia team ranked just outside the RPI top 100 on Thursday night. Lose that one and they are likely done. Winning that but then losing to Vanderbilt on Friday night would probably give them a good shot, but they may not be a lock and may be sentenced to the play-in game. If they can get through Georgia and then beat projected 6 or 7 seed Vanderbilt on Friday night that should seal the deal for them.

Two other SEC teams will be coming to New Orleans with very interesting resumes. Tennessee is probably the most interesting. They appear to be a carbon copy of Alabama last season: miserable results in pre-conference play followed by very solid results in conference play. Like Alabama last year, though, they probably need to get at least to the final to book their spot. They will open on Friday night against the winner of the Ole Miss-Auburn game. If they can advance in that one and then beat the Vanderbilt/Mississippi State/Georgia semifinalist on Saturday, it just might be enough to get them in, especially if that second win came against a projected tournament team like Vanderbilt or Mississippi State.

The third team to keep an eye on is Ole Miss. They haven't gotten much bubble talk this season, but they quietly managed to get to .500 in league play and have a strong enough RPI. What they are lacking are big wins, but if they can survive Auburn on Thursday night and then take down Tennessee in what would be a virtual bubble elimination game, they might could book a spot with a big win over a projected tournament team like Vanderbilt or Mississippi State in the semifinals on Saturday. Whatever happens with these bubble teams, though, it's pretty clear the most interesting action for neutral fans will be in the bottom half of the bracket, where all three bubble teams reside and where just about anyone could emerge and make a run to the final.

We're now only six days away from Selection Sunday, and the Tide is looking very likely to land a bid. Here is a quick update from today:

Latest RPI rankings

Latest bracket projections

• As of today's update, ESPN's Joe Lunardi has the Tide as a #8 seed in his latest bracketology projection.
• As of today's update, CBS's Jerry Palm had the Tide as a #9 seed in his latest bracketology projection.
• As of today's update, SI's Andy Glockner had the Tide as a #9 seed in his latest bracketology projection.

The Crimson Tide basketball team will close out the regular season with a road trip to Oxford, Mississippi, to take on the Ole Miss Rebels. Tip off is set for 3:00 pm CST with the game televised regionally on the SEC Network and streamed outside the region on ESPN3.

More than likely, Alabama is safely in the NCAA Tournament field, and the Tide's SEC Tournament seeding is more likely to be determined by the result of the Vanderbilt-Tennessee game than the Alabama's own game on Saturday. Still, there is plenty to play for. As for the Tide's chase of a bye in the SEC Tournament, a win would make it more likely for Alabama to get that coveted 4th seed should Tennessee beat Vanderbilt. More importantly, though, the game offers a big opportunity to get a road win over a team currently in the top 60 of the RPI. This type of win would provide a really nice boost to Bama's RPI and overall NCAA Tournament resume, and would put the Tide in a position to possibly move beyond the 8/9 seed range for the NCAA Tournament with a win or two in the SEC Tournament next week. A loss, meanwhile, would make it very difficult to climb beyond the 8/9 range, and if the loss is followed up by a loss early in the SEC Tournament, it would likely drop Bama's seeding to the very bottom of the at-large pool and might, with a loss to lowly South Carolina, even cause more than a few anxious moments for Alabama on Selection Sunday.

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The SEC Tournament seedings are starting to become a bit more clear. Alabama will be either the 4th or 5th seed. That may not seem like a big difference, but it is the difference between getting a bye and avoiding the risk for disaster, and having to face a South Carolina team that is on the verge of falling out of the RPI top 200--a scenario that would put the Tide's 2012 NCAA Tournament resume at serious risk while offering no upside whatsover. In fact, even beating South Carolina would likely make the Tide's RPI go down and would be a huge hit to Bama's SOS numbers. The bottom line is simple: getting the 4th seed rather than the 5th is unequivocally a good thing for Alabama.

There are four possible scenarios that will decide Bama's seeding position:

Tennessee loses to Vanderbilt. In this scenario, Alabama is guaranteed to get the 4th seed. If the Tide wins at Ole Miss, it will finish 4th with a better record than every team in the SEC except for Kentucky, Florida, and Vanderbilt (all of those teams hold tiebreakers over Alabama, so 4th is the best the Tide can do). Even if the Tide were to lose at Ole Miss, Alabama would still get the 4th seed thanks to holding the tiebreaker over Tennessee. If Alabama gets the 4th seed in this scenario, the Tide would face the winner of Thursday's Tennessee-South Carolina game in the quarterfinals on Friday afternoon.

Tennessee beats Vanderbilt and Alabama loses at Ole Miss. In this scenario, the Tide is guaranteed to get the 5th seed. Alabama would have a worse record than Kentucky, Florida, Vanderbilt, and Tennessee, but a better record than everyone else in the league. If Alabama gets the 5th seed in this scenario, the Tide would face South Carolina in the first round on Thursday afternoon, and advance to play the 4th seed (would be Florida if they lose to Kentucky this weekend, otherwise would be Vanderbilt) on Friday afternoon with a win against South Carolina in the opener.

Tennessee and Alabama both win, and Florida beats Kentucky. In this scenario, Alabama would finish in a 3-way tie with Vanderbilt and Tennessee for 3rd place, with Kentucky and Florida taking the top seeds. In this 3-way tiebreaker, Alabama would finish 2nd among the 3 teams thanks to having a 1-1 record against Vanderbilt and Tennessee, meaning the Tide would claim the 4th seed (Vanderbilt would be the 3rd seed thanks to a 2-1 record against Alabama and Tennessee, and Tennessee would be the 5th seed thanks to a 1-2 record against Alabama and Vanderbilt). If Alabama gets the 4th seed in this scenario, the Tide would face the winner of Thursday's Tennessee-South Carolina game in the quarterfinals on Friday afternoon.

Tennessee and Alabama both win, and Florida loses to Kentucky. In this scenario, Alabama would finish in a 4-way tie with Florida, Vanderbilt, and Tennessee for 2nd place, with Kentucky taking the top seed. Ironically, even though Alabama would be tied for 2nd place, this scenario would not be a good one for the Tide. Alabama would finish last among the 4 teams in this tie with a 1-2 record against Florida, Vanderbilt, and Tennessee, meaning Bama would be forced to take the 5th seed. In this scenario, the Tide would face South Carolina in the first round on Thursday afternoon, and advance to play 4th seed Florida on Friday afternoon with a win against South Carolina in the opener.

In all of these scenarios, Alabama will be on the same side of the bracket as Kentucky, so the Tide would have to get through the #1 ranked Wildcats in the semifinals unless the 'Cats fall victim to a major upset in their opener on Friday against the 8th or 9th seed.

Most importantly, though, Alabama fans should be looking to avoid a game with South Carolina that is virtually guaranteed to hurt Alabama's computer numbers (the biggest strength of Bama's resume) regardless of result, and that will be a major risk if the Tide drops the game. The best way to wrap up that 4th seed is simply for Tennessee to lose to Vanderbilt this weekend. Let's hope for that...and of course an Alabama victory at Ole Miss, that would help Alabama's resume too.

The Crimson Tide basketball team will look to avoid an untimely disaster tonight as they take on the Auburn Tigers. Tip off is set for 7:00 pm CST with the game being televised regionally on the SEC Network and streamed outside the region on ESPN3.

As we mentioned earlier this week, the Tide is on the verge of qualifying for March Madness--if Bama can avoid horrible losses down the stretch. It's doubtful Alabama players or fans need any extra motivation when playing the school's biggest rival in front of a sold-out crowd of 15,000+, but the Crimson Tide could very well lock up its long-awaited return to March Madness with a win tonight.

Losing this game to Auburn would be especially costly thanks to Auburn's weak RPI ranking of 140th (as of Tuesday). Taking a loss at home to a sub-100 team is just about the worst thing that can happen to a team's tournament resume. That's the bad news. The good news is that Auburn is ranked 140th for a reason. They are just 4-10 in SEC play, and 3-13 against top 100 teams. They have some nice players and play a very feisty brand of basketball that can frustrate opponents, but at the end of the day they have struggled to knock off good teams. They are one of the weakest teams in the SEC, and Alabama will be playing at home in front of what should be a large and boisterous crowd. This is a game Alabama can and should win with solid focus, energy, and execution.

With all of that said, this is by no means an automatic win if Alabama doesn't do those things. Auburn may be one of the weaker teams in the SEC, but they are still an SEC team, and they are capable of playing with and beating good teams. They've already beaten NIT team Ole Miss and NCAA bubble teams South Florida and Mississippi State, and they've had several hard-fought losses to strong teams, even playing #1 Kentucky fairly close for most of the game. They play tough, hard-nosed defense and typically play very scrappy on both ends. Teams that don't come prepared for a physical battle can be in for a long night. For a prime example, see what happened in this same game last year when a vastly superior Alabama team needed a buzzer-beater to avoid catastrophe against an even weaker Auburn team.

Some may be overconfident about this game after the Tide handled Auburn pretty easily on the road a few weeks back. However, while Alabama managed to pull away and win with relative ease in the second half of that game, a few things happened that made it appear easier than it could have been. First, Auburn was awful from the free throw line, squandering chance after chance to keep the score close and keep their crowd in the game. Second, Auburn had three technical fouls called on them, including two for hanging on the rim, that absolutely killed their momentum in key parts of the game. Third, Alabama had an unusually strong shooting night from the perimeter, something that really keyed the Tide's ability to pull away in the 2nd half. It would be unreasonable to expect any of those things to happen again in this game, so Alabama's players and fans need to be prepared for a more drawn-out battle this time around. If those things hadn't happened the last game, things would have definitely been much closer and could have easily broken Auburn's way.

One important aspect for tonight's game is player availability for each team. Alabama's Trevor Lacey is questionable with an ankle sprain. He had caught fire offensively in recent weeks but has missed most of the last two games with his injury. He may miss this one completely, and even if he does suit up he likely won't be 100%. The bigger question though may be the availability of Auburn's Varez Ward and Chris Denson, both of whom were suspended for the Tigers' last game. Ward in particular is a vital player as the team's starting point guard. Coach Tony Barbee said yesterday that it would be a game-day decision whether or not their suspensions would be lifted. His quote certainly makes one suspect those two will be in uniform tonight in Tuscaloosa, but at least the possibility exists they won't be.

Whoever suits up for Auburn, Alabama has to come out with great energy (Coach Grant's favorite phrase), execute on both ends of the court, and maintain focus throughout. If the team does those things, Alabama can for all intents and purposes ensure itself a spot in one of America's biggest sporting events tonight...and also beat Auburn. That's always fun. Hope for the best.

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The Crimson Tide basketball team has somehow navigated a treacherous suspension saga to emerge as one of the hottest teams in the SEC over the last couple of weeks. Fresh off big wins over Arkansas and Mississippi State last week, the Tide is now looking very good to land a coveted spot in this year's NCAA Tournament.

After spending a lot of time this weekend studying the numbers and the resumes of various "bubble" teams, and consulting with a few actual bracketologists like CBS's Jerry Palm and SI's Andy Glockner over Twitter, I can safely say that Alabama would be in the field with relative ease if the season were to end today.

That doesn't mean Alabama would have a very high seed, as I suspect that the bracket projections which will be released today and tomorrow from these experts will likely have the Tide in the 8/9 range or so, but even that seed range gives Bama a little breathing room, as at least a dozen or so other at-large teams will be projected in the field behind the Tide. However, even with that breathing room, Alabama is not 100% safe.

In order to say the Tide is a "lock", we need to ask ourselves, if Bama lost every single remaining game, would we still be safe? The answer, right now, is probably not. Losing out would have to begin by adding a home loss to an Auburn team ranked in the 140's of the RPI. That alone would be enough to knock Bama down a couple of seed lines at least. If that loss were then followed up by a road loss to an Ole Miss team that has a respectable RPI but is not an NCAA contender themselves, you'd have to think the Tide would be squarely on the bubble heading into the SEC Tournament next week.

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The Crimson Tide basketball team will host the Mississippi State Bulldogs tonight in what has shaped up to be an extremely crucial game for both teams as they each look to lock up bids to the 2012 NCAA Tournament. Tip-off for this massive showdown is set for 5:00 pm CST, with the game being televised nationally on ESPN.

Entering this game, both teams are in a similar, precarious position: in the NCAA Tournament field if the season ended today, but so low in the pecking order of at-large teams that a poor finish from here on could drive them all the way out of the field. For that reason, it is vital for each team to get a win in what is being hyped by the national media as an important battle between two "bubble" teams.

Interestingly enough, both teams have taken similar paths to get to this point. Both have been ranked in the top 20 for much of the season, but have been shaky recently and now find themselves battling the bubble rather than the top 15. The difference has been the trajectory of the path. Alabama has gone through three distinct rocky patches that threatened to derail a promising season, the most recent of course being the suspension saga. However the Tide has now seemingly put the suspension ordeal behind them and is actually coming off back-to-back crucial wins in the past week. The Bulldogs meanwhile are currently mired in their own slump, having lost their last four games. Just two weeks ago they were ranked in the top 25 and looked destined for a high NCAA Tournament seed, but after losing back-to-back overtime games to Georgia and LSU, and then falling on the road to lowly Auburn, the Bulldogs are in search of a major win to right the ship.

Don't let the recent slide fool you, however. Mississippi State is still easily one of the most talented teams in the SEC, and in their last game on Tuesday night, they outplayed #1 Kentucky for much of the game, leading by double figures at the half before falling in the end. State is an extremely dangerous team that is capable of playing with anyone, and with the Bulldogs more desperate for a win than even Alabama, don't expect anything less than a big-time battle as both teams seek to lock up their place in March Madness.

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At this afternoon's press conference, coach Anthony Grant announced that he "anticipates" leading scorer JaMychal Green will be "dressed and available" for tomorrow's crucial home game against Mississippi State. This will be Green's first game back after missing the last four games due to suspension.

This is nothing but good news for Bama fans. Alabama has played well its last two games without Green, thanks largely to some nice defensive performances and some big-time contributions from perimeter players Trevor Releford, Andrew Steele, Rodney Cooper, and Trevor Lacey. However, those two wins came against two of the least-dangerous frontcourts in the SEC. In the two previous games without Green, against LSU and Florida, Alabama was completely dominated on the interior. With one of the SEC's top frontcourts coming to Coleman Coliseum tomorrow, this is a very good time for Green to return to the lineup.

As has been well-documented, Green will be coming off his third suspension in Grant's three seasons as head coach, and the last two times it has happened Green has come back focused and hungry. Let's hope that's the case this time around.

The news was not as good for freshman guard Trevor Lacey, who Grant listed as "doubtful" for the Mississippi State game due to an injury he suffered on Thursday night against Arkansas. An MRI today confirmed that Lacey's injury was a sprained ankle, which means he'll likely miss time but should be able to return to action at some point this season.

Hopefully that return will be sooner rather than later, because Lacey has looked extremely dangerous the last two games. He lit up Tennessee for 18 points, and then started out on fire against Arkansas, scoring 8 points in only 6 minutes on the court before his injury. The injury was poorly timed for Lacey, who has had an up and down freshman season, but had really seemed to have "the light come on" as they say in his most recent outing. Hopefully when he does return he will pick up where he left off prior to the injury.

We'll have more on tomorrow's crucial showdown with Mississippi State later today or tomorrow morning.

UPDATE: Per Cecil Hurt, the Mississippi State game is officially a sellout.

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