Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Vanderbilt Commodores Prediction & Game Preview - 2/22/2022

Time: 9 p.m. ET

Venue: Memorial Gymnasium, Nashville, TN

Where to watch: SEC Network

DraftKings: Alabama -4

BetMGM: Alabama -3.5

Caesars: Alabama -4

No. 24 Alabama: 17-10 (7-7 SEC)

Vanderbilt: 14-12 (6-8 SEC)

You know that nagging fly that just hovers around you and doesn’t want to leave because it thinks your body is a prime piece of real estate that can just annoy you for the remainder of time?

That’s kinda where I feel the Alabama Crimson Tide are at. No matter how bland they’ve been throughout the course of the season and not really winning anymore games to be considered an actual threat, the Tide are still around in the top 25 and might be the most average 17-10 team to hit that mark.

Alabama has won three of four and is coming off a 90-81 loss against the Kentucky Wildcats. The wins prior to that weren’t that great, defeating Ole Miss, Arkansas and Mississippi State. Even before that, Alabama took Kentucky to the limit at home, but still lost by 11 points. 

Keon Ellis had a game-high 28 points, but the problem with Alabama was the depth beyond Ellis. Only two players had double digits in points, including Jaden Shackelford with 18 on 5 of 15 shooting. Normally that’d be good to have, but you take one look at Kentucky and see four starters scoring in double figures and you automatically hang your head because there’s absolutely nothing that can be done in this lexicon to make it happen.

Alabama is still one of the top offenses in the country scoring 80.4 points per game, but the defense – as evident from the Kentucky game – is non-existent at times giving up 76 points a contest. Fortunately that shouldn’t be an issue this time around against a Vanderbilt team that has been alarmingly disappointing. So really, Alabama’s top-25 ranking is the friends we’ve made along the way, if you think about it. I mean, really, think about how crazy that is. It’s just horrible.

I love how I talked all that trash to Alabama just now, only to look at Vanderbilt’s record and see that The Commodores have only three fewer wins than said Alabama. I don't know what to make of that nor do I know what to make of anything that the top 25 committee is doing in this realm that is college basketball, but for the love of God I have just stopped trying.

Vanderbilt has won three of its last five, which is a very good sign for a program that might not really have that much direction right now. But The Commodores are coming off a five-point victory on Saturday against Texas A&M which shows that they actually do have some life left in them. But if Vanderbilt were to beat Alabama this week would it really be that impressive? I mean really we're just looking at a ranking here from Alabama compared to three wins off Vanderbilt and I'm over here thinking that this should actually be an upset should the home team actually get the victory.

But my thinking is is that as long as you have Scottie Pippen Jr. you're going to have some sort of chance to win games. I mean it is his dad's genes, right? You have a kid averaging almost 20 points a game on 43% shooting and he's your only superstar. So it's like he's the Michael Jordan of Vanderbilt but is he the Scottie Pippen of Vanderbilt? I just put a hole mindwarp in your brain did I not?

Look I'm not trying to tell you what to believe in when you look at these two teams, nor do I expect you to actually fully watch this game for the atrocity that it could potentially be. But all I'm saying is that Vanderbilt is not that far off from Alabama in terms of winds and if we're really going based off that logic how has Alabama stayed this relevant this long?

College basketball makes my brain hurt and I really can't do it anymore.

I feel like we are at an impasse with this game, and I am left here thinking that Alabama will get the job done. Will that result in another rise into the rankings as to a top 20 spot? That remains to be seen and I don't know if I want to stick around to see if that actually happens. But it is a very interesting case to see Alabama just climb slightly to cling on to life because it might be the only chance they have to get to the NCAA tournament, but what do I know? Alabama by 20

Alabama is 3-10 ATS this season following a conference game.

Alabama is 2-13 ATS after one or more overs this season.

Alabama is 6-18 ATS following two straight games where both teams score 75 points or fewer.

Vanderbilt is 14-5 ATS in February the past three seasons.

The over is 32-16 after Vanderbilt covers the over.

PG: Jahvon Quinerly

SG: Jaden Shackelford

SF: Keon Ellis

PF: Juwan Gray

C: Charles Bediako

PG: Rodney Chatman

SG: Scotty Pippen Jr.

SF: Jordan Wright

PF: Myles Stute

C: Quentin Millora-Brown

Points: Jaden Shackelford -- 17.1

Rebounds: Keon Ellis -- 5.9

Assists: Jahvon Quinerly -- 4.5

Points: Scotty Pippen Jr. -- 19.5

Rebounds: Jordan Wright -- 6.1

Assists: Scotty Pippen Jr. -- 3.8