Updated: Win over Auburn drops Alabama’s RPI

Update: Alabama dropped a spot in the latest RPI projection despite not playing Thursday evening.

Florida State’s buzzer beater at Virginia moved it to No. 23 from No. 28. That pushed Alabama back to No. 28. Click here for the Yahoo Sports RPI projections.

It’s hardly significant in the grand scheme of things, but an interesting note, nonetheless.

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Original post: A loss would have been worse, but a win over Auburn on Thursday didn’t help Alabama’s RPI rating.

The Crimson Tide dropped from No. 25 to No. 27 according to two unofficial calculations of the formula used by the NCAA tournament selection committee.

Click here for the Yahoo Sports version and here for the RealtimeRPI.com estimate.

The reason for the drop? Auburn’s RPI of 145 didn’t help Alabama’s strength of schedule. The Tide still have the 15th toughest path to the postseason, according to the computers.

The final game of the year is Saturday at Ole Miss, the No. 59 team in the RPI ratings.

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Watch Alabama beat Ole Miss in under 60 seconds

Here’s the latest time lapse look at an Alabama win. Much more video coming in a bit.

 

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Alabama/Ole Miss line shifts after Rebel suspensions

I’m sure you read last night about the four suspensions handed down by Ole Miss football coach Houston Nutt.

Well Las Vegas noticed. Alabama went from being a 25 to 25.5-point favorite over the Rebels to a 28 points better according to the always-reliable VegasInsider.com.

See this example of the movement in the Caesars/Harrah’s line. The last 24-hours are spotlighted.

Click to enlarge.

My prediction stands. You can read about that tomorrow.

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Another Ole Miss ticket update

Vaught-Hemingway Stadium (Ole Miss athletics photo)

Yesterday we reported there were still more than 1,000 tickets available for Alabama’s visit to Ole Miss on Saturday.

Another exchange of emails with the Rebel ticket office Thursday morning reveals the same 1,200 passes still remain for sale. The $65 tickets get you standing room, but no seat for the 5 p.m. kickoff in Oxford.

Click here for more information or to buy tickets.

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Houston Nutt talks Alabama, QBs, Saban

Here’s a quick taste of what Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt said on the SEC teleconference today:

• In the SEC, you need chin straps buckled every week, Nutt said.
• Ole Miss tried to take advantage of bye week that preceded this week’s game.
• On starting three different quarterbacks this season: “It’s been difficult. It’s been tough.”
• Current starter Randall Mackey should keep his job as long as he’s healthy.
• On Nick Saban, Nutt said he does a great job of recruiting at a high level and “defensively is where you see his personality — his toughness and his aggressiveness.”
• On whether Saban should be considered an all-time great in the SEC, Nutt asked “doesn’t he already have a statue?”

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Saban talks Ole Miss, staying at ‘Bama, motivation

The weekly 10 minutes of Nick Saban on the SEC teleconference just wrapped up. Here’s what he said:

• Team did a good job of “bouncing back” this week after playing below standard a week ago against Vanderbilt.
• Ole Miss always seems to play the Tide tight, so this is always a big game.
• On Marquis Maze, Saban said he’s got “a little running back in him,” who is completely different from Julio Jones.
• On how long he’d be at Alabama, he said he “made some mistakes by moving around” earlier in his career.
• He’ll be at Alabama as long as he’s healthy.
• Saban is “process oriented” and not “results oriented.” Why do I feel like I’ve heard that before?
• Cornerback DeQuan Menzie knows much more about the defense this year and is obviously making a bigger impact as a senior.
• On motivating team: “We have a standard we play to as a team.” Another from the greatest hits catalog.

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Updating Ole Miss ticket situation

I wrote a little about the ticket market for Saturday’s Alabama game at Ole Miss on the blog and in print today.

The Ole Miss ticket office returned a message this morning saying there are still more than a few for sale. As of early Wednesday, there are 1,200 standing-room passes available.

Vaught-Hemingway Stadium, the third-smallest in the SEC with a shade more than 60,000 seats, hasn’t sold out in the three previous home dates this fall. Those figures don’t count The Grove.

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Ole Miss football game still not sold out

Alabama hasn’t played before fewer than 90,000 fans all season. By Saturday, it’ll head to one of the smaller stadiums in the SEC.

Vaught-Hemingway Stadium

And as of late Tuesday morning, the 60,000-seat Vaught-Hemingway Stadium at Ole Miss isn’t sold out for Saturday’s visit from No. 2 Alabama.

A limited number of standing room only seats remain, according to the Ole Miss ticket office and its website.

Click here if you want to snatch up the last few remaining $65 non-scalped tickets available for this one. It’s a far-cry from the Penn State road game sold old long ago with resold seats going for several hundred dollars.

At the time of this posting, StubHub.com has tickets priced as low as $50 for the 5 p.m. Saturday game.

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Which road game would you attend?

We’re still a month away from SEC Media Days and the unofficial beginning of football season in Alabama. So things are slow.

So why not ponder the ultimate road trip of the fall. The Crimson Tide has a few interesting destinations on the itinerary this fall. Click here for the full schedule.

But if you had to chose just one, which would you attend?

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Video of gorgeous day in Oxford, Alabama loss

Anthony Grant talks about technical foul

AP photo by Rogelio V. Solis

Alabama coach Anthony Grant was called for a technical foul with 2:42 left trailing 59-58 after he felt Trevor Releford was fouled driving to the rim.

After the 68-63 loss to Ole Miss, Grant addressed the issue.

“I disagreed with the call and I let them know my opinion. They didn’t agree with my opinion. That’s their right. … I thought my guy got fouled. I’ll go back and look at it and maybe I’ll see from their perspective. At the moment, it looked like there was contact going to the rim.”

But did he deserve the technical?

“I can’t say. They have to answer that. Hey, they do what they do.”

Read more tomorrow.

Alabama falls 68-63 at Ole Miss

The Crimson Tide saw an 11-point lead crumble as Chris Warren and Zach Graham took over to lead Ole Miss over the SEC West champs 68-63.

Trevor Releford was stripped driving the lane with 13 seconds left trailing by three. Graham hit two free-throws to seal it.

Alabama went on a 21-5 run to open the second half that produced at 51-40 lead with 13:34 left.  Warren scored 17 of his 25 after halftime to lead the charge in a sparsely filled Tad Smith Coliseum.

What does this mean for a possible at-large bid? Good question.

Read more tomorrow. Buy a newspaper!

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Tide trails Ole Miss 35-30 at halftime

Here are a few important figures from the first half in an un-full Tad Smith Coliseum. Click here to follow on Twitter.

• Ole Miss has four dunks. Tide had allowed just 0.46 in the previous 54 halves this season.
• Rebels are 10-of-13 from free-throw line.
• Tide is 0-for-2.
• Points in the paint: Ole Miss 20, Alabama 18. Tide still hasn’t been outscored in that category all year.
• Ole Miss out-rebounding Alabama 35-30 and holds a 11-6 advantage in second-chance points.
• Alabama bench scoreless with four players seeing 25 of 100 possible minutes.

We’re coming to you live from Oxford today

The square in Oxford as seen this afternoon. (Click to enlarge)

It is a gorgeous afternoon in Oxford, Miss. Naturally, we’re inside about to watch some basketball. We’re about 30 minutes from Alabama at Ole Miss in Tad Smith Coliseum.

Alabama players appeared loose during its first shoot around that ended 20 minutes ago. Charvez Davis rapped along with the song on the loud speaker.

There were a few Alabama fans wandering through campus early this afternoon. It’ll be interesting to see how many people travel to this one.

For those who didn’t make the trip, I’ll provide all the insight, atmosphere and analysis on Twitter. Click here to follow along.

Can Alabama crack top 25 with win at Ole Miss?

Alabama has hovered just outside the top 25 of the Associated Press poll for the past few weeks. Traveling to Ole Miss on Saturday, does the Crimson Tide have a shot at the big time with a win?

It’ll need some help. Here’s the deal:

• No. 22 Kentucky already lost this week at Arkansas and it plays host to 13th-ranked Florida tomorrow.
• No other team ranked 20-25 lost midweek but a few face tough tests Saturday.
• No. 23 St. John’s travels to 15th-ranked Villanova.
• No. 21 Texas A&M plays at streaky Baylor.
• Missouri, the No. 20 team, plays at Kansas State where former No.1 Kansas was blown away a few weeks back.

Of course, Alabama will have to take care of its business in Oxford. Considering how it looked Wednesday against Auburn, it could be interesting.

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