Alabama is about to enter a crucial one-month swing of basketball games against what is shaping up to be perhaps the most brutal out-of-conference schedule in the country.
It begins during the Thanksgiving Phil Knight Invitational tourney, where the No. 18 Crimson Tide face the No. 12 Michigan State Spartans. And, buddy, that No. 12 ranking for Sparty is deceptive too: they took the ‘Zags to the wire, losing by 1-point. They followed that up with wins over Kentucky and Villanova. Izzo’s group has had no warmups: Michigan State is battle-tested and veteran after just a few opening weeks.