“If we see Texas they’ll play back-to-back nights before they play us,” Tide Head Coach Nate Oats said. “If we see Georgia, they’ll at least have had to play one night.”
But when it comes to confidence, a benefit the Longhorns and Bulldogs have is having beaten Alabama this season.
The Longhorns came to Tuscaloosa January 10 and beat the Tide 92-88. Jordan Pope, Tramon Mark and Dailyn Swain combined to score 64 points. Pope scored 28 and knocked down six 3-pointers. The ‘Horns outrebounded the Tide 48-38.
And, more recently on March 3, the Georgia Bulldogs beat Alabama 98-88. Kanon Catchings had a career night, scoring 32 points while knocking down seven three-pointers. The Tide got outrebounded 40-30 in that one Georgia got 25 second chance points compared to only nine for the Tide.
“They’re both good,” Oats said. “And we didn’t look good against either one of them. So we’re gonna have to fix what was wrong in those games.”