NCAAB Odds & Prediction for Alabama vs Ole Miss

SEC play rolls on as Alabama heads to Oxford to take on Ole Miss on Wednesday night.

Both teams are coming off disappointing performances in their last game, and they will look to get back on the right track here as the SEC season enters its stretch run.

Alabama has arguably been the best team in this conference, but it's coming off its worst defensive performance in years. The Crimson Tide gave up 117 points to Kentucky and lost by 22 in Rupp Arena.

Beyond that, Alabama has been stellar, winning 13 of its last 16 games and emerging as one of the most explosive teams in all of college basketball. With Mark Sears running the show, the Crimson Tide have dreams of making the first Final Four run in Nate Oats' tenure as Alabama's head coach.

Ole Miss has been much worse lately. After a 15-1 start to open the season, the Rebels' form has fallen off tremendously.

Ole Miss has lost five of their last six games entering this contest, and it looks nothing like the group that dominated Florida at home in the beginning of conference play. Its only win since the beginning of February came over a Missouri that remains winless in the SEC.

The Rebels need a win here to maintain hopes of an NCAA tournament bid, while the Tide are clinging to a share of first place in the conference and can't afford to drop a game.

Alabama boasts the best offense in college basketball.

It plays fast, shoots from anywhere and overwhelms opponents with its shot-making at all levels. The Tide own the 12th-fastest tempo in the sport and rank in the top 15 in 3-point percentage, 2-point percentage, free-throw percentage and effective field-goal percentage this season.

However, defense has been a much different story.

Alabama has fallen all the way to 98th overall in adjusted defensive efficiency. As evidenced in the loss to Kentucky, good offenses can simply outscore Alabama without much resistance.

The Tide just want to outscore teams, and that alone leaves them vulnerable.

One thing to keep an eye on here is that Alabama often has trouble finishing at the rim. It gets blocked on 12% of shot attempts, which ranks 345th in college basketball. Ole Miss has shot-blockers who have totaled the sixth-best block rate in the nation.

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Ole Miss also has an offense that can hang with Bama. While not elite by any means on that end, the Rebels rank 41st in the nation in offensive efficiency. Points will come in high volume here.

Mississippi's greatest strength as an offense is titseir shooting ability from outside. The Rebels rank 18th in college basketball in 3-point percentage, making 38% of their attempts as a team.

Matthew Murrell and Jaylen Murray are the two best threats from outside. They both shoot 40% from deep. However, during this six-game stretch, they're combining to hit only 35% of their triples.

Ole Miss doesn't have enough firepower elsewhere to survive a cold shooting night from its top two shooters, even against Alabama's defense.

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Given Ole Miss' recent slide, it's hard to be confident in its ability to keep up with the Crimson Tide offense. Confidence tends to evaporate when a team has lost five of its last six.

Take the better team to pick up the win, cover and remain on pace in the hunt for an SEC title.

Pick: Alabama -6.5