Schedule News: Alabama vs Samford in Birmingham

I want to start this post by encouraging you to check out a new website devoted to Alabama basketball, Crimson Crossover. In recent years, I've seen a growing presence on social media in fan support for Alabama basketball and I try to show support for those fans at this website and beyond. With that in mind, add Crimson Crossover to your favorites; and, if you're into social media, you can follow them on Twitter or Facebook. They even have a Youtube site where they will post game highlights. Their website, which just launched yesterday, will include articles and a forum for fans to discuss hoops. And there's likely more features they will debut in the weeks and months ahead. So go check them out asap.

In fact, it was Crimson Crossover that broke this bit of schedule news yesterday. Alabama will play Samford in Legacy Arena in Birmingham this season. It's not the marquee game that we've seen Alabama play in Legacy in recent years, but I've never been shy about stating my opinion that Alabama should play more in-state programs (yes, including UAB). What I would really like to see is an event similar to the Crossroads Classic in Indiana where four teams from the state (Alabama and Auburn obviously vs two others) play each other in back-to-back games. While the Alabama version wouldn't match Indiana, Notre Dame, Purdue and Butler squaring off, I do think it would be a fun event for hoops fans in the state. I'll have more to say about Samford when I do the schedule preview, but if you can't wait for that, head over to Crimson Crossover for an early preview.

BREAKING: Alabama has added Samford to their non conference schedule. Game will be played at Legacy Area in Birmingham.

— Crimson Crossover (@CrimsonXover) July 30, 2019

 
At this point, your guess is as good as mine when the non-conference schedule will be released. With the Samford news, we now know eleven of the (presumably) thirteen non-conference games.  

Schedule News: SEC/Big 12 Matchups Set

It's not official, but several media outlets reported on Tuesday that the matchups for the 2019 SEC/Big 12 Challenge are set. The event will take place on January 26. Assuming these reports are true, Alabama will host the Kansas State Wildcats. The Wildcats finished the 18-19 season with a 25-9 record and were top 20 in KenPom's final ratings. K-State head coach Bruce Weber coached Kira Lewis this summer in the FIBA U19 World Cup.

The other games in the event:

Kentucky at Texas Tech

Tennessee at Kansas

Baylor at Florida

Mississippi State at Oklahoma

Missouri at West Virginia

Oklahoma State at Texas A&M

LSU at Texas

Iowa State at Auburn

TCU at Arkansas

More Schedule News: Battle 4 Atlantis Bracket Released; Richmond Added To Schedule

DJC has already mentioned this in the comments section of the previous post but, if you'll indulge me, I'd like to write a bit more about this news. After all, schedule news is almost as fun to me as the games themselves.

The bracket for the Battle 4 Atlantis was released on Thursday. Along with the Maui Invitational, this has become the premier early-season event in college basketball. That Alabama will participate in both events in the next two seasons is great for the program.

Alabama's first opponent in The Bahamas will be a little basketball school by the name of North Carolina. Perhaps you've heard of them. Alabama will play the Tar Heels on Wednesday, November 27 at 1:30 PM CT. Win or lose, this is a great opportunity for our guys. If you're good enough to play D1 basketball, these are the kind of games you want to play. The trip to The Bahamas is a cherry on top. The entire event will be played November 27-29 so free up your Thanksgiving calendar now. The other matchup on this side of the bracket is Michigan/Iowa State. The matchups in the bottom half of the bracket are Gonzaga/Southern Miss and Seton Hall/Oregon.

CBS Sports Jon Rothstein also tweeted on Thursday that Alabama will host the Richmond Spiders from the Atlantic-10 conference this season. The previous meeting between the schools was in 2017 in Tuscaloosa in the first round of the NIT. If you remember, the Spiders thoroughly outplayed Alabama in that game, winning 71-64. One of three first round NIT losses during Avery Johnson's tenure, but I digress. Unfortunately for Richmond, the two seasons since have been rough as the program has only won a total of 25 games in that span.

Schedule News: Alabama Adds Penn to Non-Conference Schedule

Following CBS' Jon Rothstein on Twitter can be a chore at times (those of you who follow his account know what I'm talking about), but I have to give the guy credit for being a constant source of college basketball news during the summer. Today, he reported that, via a source, Alabama will open the 2019-20 season hosting the Penn Quakers from the Ivy League. And yes, the Quaker Oats jokes came fast and furious.
 

Source: Alabama will open the 2019-20 college basketball season on November 5th against Penn in Tuscaloosa.

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) July 4, 2019

 
The Quakers finished the 18-19 season with a 19-12 record, but no postseason. The program is preparing to enter its fifth season under Head Coach Steve Donahue, whom you may remember built Cornell into a strong mid-major (three straight NCAA Tournaments, including a Sweet 16 appearance). He guided the Quakers to an NCAA appearance in 17-18; and while they didn't make the postseason in 18-19, they did have quality wins over the likes of Miami, Villanova and Temple. I haven't studied their roster for the upcoming season so I have no idea how good they're expected to be. But given Penn's historical success in the Ivy League, combined with Donahue's leadership, I'm guessing they'll be picked to finish high in that league.

Without pulling up the schedules, I'm pretty sure this will be the first meeting between the two schools since they met in the 1995 NCAA Tournament. That was a great game, Alabama won 91-85. Antonio McDyess led the team with a 39 pt, 19 reb effort.

Here's what we know about the non-conference schedule so far:

Penn (season opener)
Battle 4 Atlantis (Gonzaga, North Carolina, Michigan, Iowa State, Oregon, Seton Hall and Southern Miss)
at Rhode Island
at Penn State
Stephen F. Austin
Belmont (Huntsville)