On Wednesday night the Tide hosts the Mississippi State Bulldogs. You might recall the embarrassment that MSU suffered in Starkville in game one between the two teams. This is not the same State team we played earlier. The players are the same. The roster looks the same but the Bulldogs are playing at a higher level now. They recently knocked off the Florida Gators.
The Gators one of the SEC East teams slated to make it to the Big Dance. Bama’s best chance of going dancing in March is to win the SEC or at least win the SEC West and lobby that some second rate bubble team doesn’t deserve a bid over an SEC school. Regardless, of what you hear, any team that wins the SEC regular season championship is a lock to make to the post season tournament.
State’s improved play is largely due to the improvement of Renardo Sidney, 6-10 , 280 center who is gradually getting in shape. Dee Bost, the 6-2 All-SEC type guard has returned and is finally back to full speed. Bost is a player who can drop in 30 against you in heartbeat. Ravern Johnson, the 6-7 string bean forward is versatile. The wildcard is Kodi Augustus the 6-8 224 lb. freshman is starting to make his presence felt. He is going to be a great player. It goes without saying that State has some motivation on several levels to come into TTown and beat the Tide. They can, and they just might do it.
Bama lives on the edge. Their offense is so tenuous that a bad shooting night by anyone player can upset the balance that Grant has forged. Bama’s defense will be solid, but State has more offensive threats than any team the good guys have played so far. When State shoots the ball well from the outside they can beat anyone in the country. Despite the fan’s feelings about Rick Stansbury, or $tansbury the man can coach. Think about this for a moment. He took a team on the cusp of total collapse and has now made them the one team no one wants to play. (Same can be said for Alabama). Arkansas and State have the best talent in the West but Alabama has that mystical quality called chemistry that you can’t define. That chemistry is based on two things in my opinion. Rock solid defense that never slows, and Bama’s players understand that it takes each of them to play a very specific role to win. When you think about State’s season and Alabama’s season they both have similarities. Both teams seemingly drove themselves in the ditch but found a way out. Hard work and good coaching was the reason why. Alabama believes they can win. So does State.
In what has become one of the nastiest rivals in the SEC not one will ask for or offer quarter. This is going to be a forty minute fight. The team that wins will be the team that can keep their composure after their opponent makes a run. They will make a couple of good runs and so will the Tide. I think that playing in a jam packed Coleman Coliseum will make the difference but I wouldn’t bet the farm. If Bama keeps the score in the 60’s they Crimson should win. If the game hits to low 70’s Bama might win. If someone scores 80 points it won’t be Alabama. State knows this is their season compiled in one game. Alabama knows that. We all know that. It won’t be fun.
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