No. 8/10 Alabama Travels to Texas to Face No. 1 Houston
For the second time in a 20-day span, No. 8/10 Alabama will face the No. 1 team in the country as the Tide travel to face Houston. The Crimson Tide and the Cougars will meet for the second straight season as the Tide defeated Houston last season (83-82) at Coleman Coliseum. This is the 12th time in program history the Tide have faced the No 1 team in the country as the matchup features two of the top rebounding teams in the country as the Tide rank No. 1 in offensive rebounds per game (16.8) and Houston ranks No. 14 (14.0).
The Broadcast
Saturday's game will be aired on ABC with Dan Shulman (play-by-play) and Jay Bilas (analyst) on the call.
The radio broadcast can be heard on the Crimson Tide Sports Network with Chris Stewart (play-by-play) and Bryan Passink (analyst) on the call, while Tom Stipe (engineer) is turning the dials. The pregame show will begin one hour prior to tipoff.
Notes You Need To Know
- Alabama is playing an AP Top 10 matchup for the first time since 2002 (No. 8 Alabama defeated No. 3 Oklahoma in New York) when Kelvin Sampson was the head coach at Oklahoma.
- Alabama is playing the No. 1 team in the AP Poll, while also being ranked in the top 10, for the first time since 1976 (No. 1 Indiana defeated No. 6 Alabama in the NCAA Tournament).
- Alabama head coach Nate Oats has won four straight games when playing a team who played in the previous year's Final Four (3-0 last year, 1-0 this year).
- Alabama is 4-7 all-time against the No. 1 team in the country, most recently defeating No. 1 North Carolina on Nov. 27 at the Phil Knight Invitational.
- For the first time in program history, Alabama has two top 25 wins during non-conference play in back-to-back seasons.
- Brandon Miller is averaging 19.1 points per game, the most by any freshman in the country and No. 42 overall.
- Miller is the only freshman in the country to rank in the top 50 in points per game (No. 42) and rebounds per game (No. 50).
- Miller is averaging 3.38 three-pointers per game, which ranks No. 17 in the country.
- Alabama is the only school in Division I to have two freshmen rank in the top 90 in rebounds per game, as Miller ranks No. 50 (8.9 rpg) and Noah Clowney ranks No. 86 (8.0 rpg).
- Alabama ranks No. 1 in the country in rebounds per game (50.3), defensive rebounds per game (33.5), offensive rebounds per game (16.8) and No. 2 in rebound margin (+13.9).
- Alabama's newcomers have scored 525 of the Tide's 668 points this season.
- Charles Bediako ranks No. 17 in the country in offensive rebounds per game, averaging 3.62.
- With the Dec. 5 rankings, Houston was #1 in the nation in both the Associated Press and USA TODAY Sports polls for the second straight week. This season marked the first time since March 14, 1983 (AP) and March 15, 1983 (Coaches) that the Cougars were atop a national poll. This also marked the first time Houston Head Coach Kelvin Sampson's team was ranked No. 1 in a national poll during his award-winning career.
- Since 2017-18, Houston ranks as the nation's second-winningest team with a 152- 30 record. Only Gonzaga with a 160-19 record stands higher.
- With Houston's win over Northern Colorado (Nov. 7), Head Coach Kelvin Sampson recorded the 700th win of his award-winning career and his 200th as a Cougar.
- With their Dec. 5 rankings, the Cougars extended their school record with their 50th consecutive week ranked among the AP Top 25. The previous mark was 35 straight weeks in the poll from 1967 to 1969.
- For the fourth straight season, the Cougars were named preseason favorites in the American Athletic Conference in voting by the league's head coaches.
- Senior guard Marcus Sasser was named the league's Preseason Player of the Year and earned a place on the Preseason First Team. Freshman forward Jarace Walker was named the Preseason Rookie of the Year, while junior point guard Jamal Shead was named to the Preseason Second Team.
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