Where Alabama Lands in Joe Lunardi’s Initial 2025-26 Bracketology
The 2024-25 college basketball season officially concluded at the beginning of the month with Florida defeating Houston in the National Championship.
After falling to Florida in the SEC Tournament quarterfinal, Alabama received the 2-seed in the East Region of the NCAA Tournament and defeated Robert Morris, Saint Mary’s and BYU before losing to 1-seed Duke in the Elite Eight. The Crimson Tide finished the season with a 28-9 (13-5 SEC) record.
Alabama finished 2024-25 as the No. 6 team in the AP Top 25 and No. 6 in the Coaches Poll on Tuesday. But like the Crimson Tide, the rest of the college basketball world is already looking toward next season. Plenty of news outlets have come out with their way-too-early rankings for 2025, including Sports Illustrated, which placed Alabama at No. 17 on April 8.
And while rankings are always something to keep in mind, seeing the NCAA Tournament bracket is often a visual that fans can’t take their eyes off. ESPN’s Joe Lunardi debuted his renowned bracketology for the 2025-26 season on Tuesday morning.
Alabama was placed as the No. 6 seed in Lunardi’s East Region, which would be tied for technically the worst spot in the Nate Oats era alongside the 2021-22 team. The reason it’s technical is because the actual worst placement was in Oats’ inaugural year when the Crimson Tide didn’t even make the tournament.
Lunardi’s East Region:
1-seed Duke vs. 16-seed Vermont/Jackson State
8-seed Texas vs. 9-seed Baylor
5-seed Texas Tech vs. 12-seed Illinois State
4-seed Michigan State vs. 13-seed Miami (OH)
6-seed Alabama vs. 11-seed Memphis
3-seed Arizona vs. 14-seed Troy
7-seed North Carolina vs. 10-seed Maryland
2-seed UConn vs. 15-seed Siena
After a record-shattering 14 SEC teams made the 2025 NCAA Tournament, Lunardi believes the conference will impress again with 13 programs reaching March Madness in 2026. The Big Ten is right behind with 12, followed by the Big 12 with eight, the ACC logging five and the Big East being represented by four schools.
Lunardi’s Seeding for SEC teams:
2-seed Kentucky (Midwest)
3-seed Florida (South)
3-seed Tennessee (West)
4-seed Auburn (Midwest)
5-seed Arkansas (West)
6-seed Missouri (Midwest)
6-seed Alabama (East)
7-seed Mississippi State (South)
8-seed Vanderbilt (West)
8-seed Texas (East)
9-seed Oklahoma (Midwest)
9-seed Georgia (South)
11-seed Ole Miss (South First Four)