Alabama is good. Really good. BUT, they've tapered off a bit as the year has gone on. That is mostly related to Sears suddenly getting cold from the 3 point line. When he's shooting it well, Alabama is as good as any team in the country IMO.

You can tell why Oats has taken such an interest in NBA programs in the off season. They want to out math you. Offensively, they want to speed you up and are confident in playing better than you at a faster pace and being more efficient than you. A lot of what they do is similar to us. "Paint to great" is the theme. They try to get 2 foot paint touches and spray the ball out to the perimeter when you over help. All of their guards are good off the dribble and are very good at making the right reads when they get down hill.

They are relentless on the offensive glass. It's weird, but Nelson, Omoruyi, and Dioubate are all great offensive rebounders but are just adept on the defensive glass. We have opportunities here to hurt them on the offensive glass, but they'll get theirs as well.

Defensively they mix up coverages but they primarily play drop coverage. They are comfortable with all 3 main bigs playing well in 2v1 scenarios and count on their guards to chase and disrupt. They are disciplined and do a good job staying attached to shooters. But they are vulnerable to having good guards exploit the drop. Hall is going to be huge here. Seeing Baker play well against drop was something I suspect you'll see again.

Keys to the game:

Sears. He is very talented, but hasn't been efficient lately. If he's shooting it well, Bama can beat anybody. If he's not, they are very beatable. Huge key to the game. If he stays inefficient I love our chances.

Rebounding. We have to keep them off the offensive glass. A lot of their runs come from 2nd and 3rd opportunities. They feed off of it. But they don't attack the defensive boards quite the same way because they want to get in transition. Whoever gets more offensive rebounds will likely win the game.

Exploit the drop - Bama wants to lure you into mid range hell. You have to exploit their drop coverage to get them to start helping. It's the only thing that will open up the 3 point line.

Coaching - Both coaches are great. They're undoubtedly going to come up with wrinkles. Who can adapt?

Make or miss. I hate to say it, but I think both teams will get a lot of what they want. I don't think either defense is adept enough to stop the other team. So a big part will be who is making their shots. I love that we've been the hotter team.

Gonna be a great game. BYU can stand toe to toe with these guys.