The Southeastern Conference announced the media's predicted order of finish ahead of the upcoming men's basketball season.
Alabama is predicted to be fifth in the conference, with Florida, Texas, Arkansas and Tennessee in front of the Crimson Tide.
Alabama basketball's 2025-26 season ended at the hands of Michigan in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, but it's a bittersweet ending to a wild year. The Crimson Tide met its expectations. It started the season ranked No. 15 in the AP Top 25 and entered March Madness at the same spot. In terms of the SEC, Alabama was predicted to finish fourth in 2025-26, but ended up tying for second.
Additionally, the SEC announced its preseason all-conference teams. Alabama guard Amari Allen was named to the Second Team.
Allen started in 24 of his 32 games played this past season, as he averaged 11.4 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.7 blocks. He was named the SEC Freshman of the Week three times, which led to him being named one of five players on the All-SEC Freshman Team.
That said, these numbers were higher before the final month of the season. Allen hit a bit of a slump in March, as his numbers in every stat category took a dip, especially as a shooter. In his first 25 games, he shot 47.1 percent from the field and 39.8 percent from deep. But in the final seven contests, he was 36.1 percent from the field and 8.0 percent from downtown, hitting just two of 25 behind-the-arc attempts — which played a big role in withdrawing from the 2026 NBA Draft on May 27.
As Allen enters his sophomore campaign, it's important to note how well Alabama players perform in Year 2 of head coach Nate Oats' system. Labaron Philon Jr., Herb Jones, Mark Sears and many other Crimson Tide products recorded significantly better numbers in their second season at UA, and Allen is aiming to do the same.
SEC Predicted Order of Finish
- Florida
- Texas
- Arkansas
- Tennessee
- Alabama
- Vanderbilt
- Kentucky
- Missouri
- Auburn
- Texas A&M
- Georgia
- Oklahoma
- Ole Miss
- LSU
- Mississippi State
- South Carolina
Preseason All-SEC First Team
Rueben Chinyelu – Florida
Juke Harris – Tennessee
Thomas Haugh – Florida
Josh Hubbard – Mississippi State
Tyler Tanner – Vanderbilt
Preseason All-SEC Second Team
Amari Allen – Alabama
Alex Condon – Florida
Milan Momcilovic – Kentucky
Jordan Smith Jr. – Arkansas
Matas Vokietaitis – Texas
Preseason All-SEC Third Team
PJ Haggerty – Texas A&M
Malachi Moreno – Kentucky
Tahaad Pettiford – Auburn
David Punch – Texas
Billy Richmond III – Arkansas
SEC Player of the Year
Thomas Haugh – Florida
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