Minutes after Alabama completed one of its most lopsided SEC wins in program history Saturday, its star player whose shooting had LSU on the mat before halftime was in no mood to gloat.
“All we can do is get back to the basics and prepare for Vanderbilt,” said Brandon Miller, whose 31 points on 16 shots in 24 minutes was described by coach Nate Oats as one of the most efficient games he has ever seen.
From the start of its Jan. 3 game against Ole Miss through halftime Saturday, when it led LSU by 37 points, Alabama had out-scored its four conference opponents over that span by a combined 100 points.
With its 106-66 win, the Tide rose Sunday to No. 3 in the NCAA’s NET rankings behind only Houston and Tennessee. Alabama is a projected No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament and its betting odds to win the national championship continue to shorten — and are now tied for the fifth-shortest on BetMGM’s board.
But as Alabama soars, its players and coach are making a clear effort to stay grounded.
“Very surgical, methodical, business-like,” Oats said of the approach he wants his players to take. “It takes what it takes. We got to prep. We got to be ready to go.”
That includes Miller, whose NBA draft stock continues to rise to where Sports Illustrated projected him last week as No. 4 overall this summer.
“I think my teammates really keep me focused on the mission here,” Miller said. “Our mission is to win a national championship.”
Oats hasn’t broached that topic yet, but he has openly discussed before and after recent games what it will take to win an SEC regular season title for the second time in three seasons.
Alabama (5-0) sits atop the conference standings with Texas A&M (4-0) as the only other undefeated team after Tennessee lost Saturday to erratic Kentucky.
“Obviously it helped us in trying to win the league that Tennessee lost. We only get them once at their place,” Oats said of the Feb. 15 trip to Knoxville.
But the Vols, who lost Saturday to an erratic Kentucky team, might still be the Tide’s primary threat.
“Tennessee’s defense has been unbelievable. I don’t see them dropping too many more games, to be honest with you,” Oats said of the Vols, who still rank No. 1 nationally in KenPom’s defensive efficiency rankings. “I looked at KenPom, and they didn’t have Tennessee losing another game the rest of the year before this one. If we’re going to try to compete for the SEC, there’s some teams at the top of this thing that are playing at a high level, where we can’t afford to drop games we’re not supposed to drop.”
Alabama dispatched struggling Ole Miss and LSU teams that rank No. 110 and No. 113, respectively, in the NCAA’s NET rankings. In both cases, Oats lauded his players’ maturity in approaching their opponents.
“You’ve got to win the games you’re supposed to win,” he said. “And we know we’re more talented than some of the teams coming in. Like, I’m not gonna try to pump teams up bigger than what they are. I don’t lie to our guys. But we tell them, the more talented teams don’t always win. The more talented teams win when they play harder, play more together and are more focused and locked in.
“We’re gonna have to take care of business every game up until [the Tennessee game]. I talked to our guys up until then. I told them, like, Tennessee lost at home to Kentucky. Anything can happen in this league.”
Alabama, which started 9-0 in the SEC two years ago, still has two weeks before it can match that mark. It plays twice on the road this week — Tuesday night at Vanderbilt and Saturday evening at Missouri.
After Alabama players high-fived fans in a sold-out Coleman Coliseum to celebrate beating LSU, the prep for Vanderbilt began.
“Shoot, they’re all in the weight room right now,” Oats said during his postgame news conference. “We lift after games. They’re getting work in right now. It helps to keep them very business-like — game’s over, you get in the weight room, get your lift in. Get your recovery with the trainer.
“Got the Vanderbilt personnel loaded up. They can look at it on their phones, devices while they’re getting treatment.”
Mike Rodak is an Alabama beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mikerodak.
