Alabama plays at Ole Miss tomorrow at 1 on ESPN2. Anthony Grant has had a bad first season. Maybe it’s an aberration.
Auburn vs LSU at Auburn. 6 p.m. on Fox Sports South. Jeff Lebo has run out of lifelines in my opinion. It’s been six years without an NCAA appearance and with no chance unless they win the tourney this year, which is highly unlikely, it looks to be about over for Lebo. I hate it. He seems like a good guy who knows the game, but Auburn plays terrible defense and can’t hold leads in the second half. They’ve lost about three or four games where they were leading handily. Arkansas and Ole Miss on the road really stand out to me. Those were bad losses. It’s not looking good for Lebo.
Tulane at UAB at Bartow. 1 p.m. No TV. Another lousy opponent for the Blazers to look terrible against to further hurt their chances of getting a bid. Maybe they can play well, but there is no margin for error with this team and I just don’t have much confidence in them the way they’ve been playing. How can a team go from being a strong NCAA team (maybe a sixth or seventh seed) in early January to being on the bubble looking in? If they can wake up and start playing well they have a chance. But they’ll have to win tomorrow (surely they can do that) and beat Memphis at home Wednesday (8 p.m. CSS) and then possibly steal one against UTEP, which I don’t see happening. If they lose one or two of these three, particularly at home, they will probably need to win the tournament. They just shoot the ball terribly. Maybe this Fields kid can give them a lift. He seems to be able to shoot the three. Blazers’ backs are against the wall. They need to respond for any chance to play into March.