Alabama, Auburn move up in AP rankings ahead of Players Era Festival

The Alabama and Auburn men’s basketball teams moved up in the latest Associated Press poll ahead of what many consider to be the biggest non-conference college basketball week of the season.

Alabama moves back into the Top 10 after recording its second top-10 victory of the season last week, going to Chicago to take down No. 8 Illinois. Meanwhile, Auburn bounced back with a dominant win over Jackson State and moved up one spot in the rankings.

Now, both teams are in Las Vegas for one of the biggest regular season college basketball showcases. Keep reading to see the latest top 25 + what to expect from this year’s Players Era Festival.

AP Top 25

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Alabama matches its highest AP ranking of the season so far, moving up to No. 8 in the latest poll. The Tide is now the highest-ranked SEC program and the second highest-ranked one-loss team.

Nate Oats’ squad is one of just two teams with wins over at least two teams currently ranked in the top 15. The other is No. 2 Arizona who will play against the Crimson Tide on Dec. 13 at Legacy Arena in Birmingham.

Auburn moved up one spot to No. 21, currently the fifth highest ranked team from the SEC. The Tigers’ lone defeat came against No. 3 Houston.

7 total SEC programs are ranked in the top 25 with two others receiving votes.

Check out the full top 25 on the Associated Press website.

Players Era Festival

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The Players Era Festival tournament will span across four days in Las Vegas, featuring 18 total men’s teams and four women’s teams.

Each men’s team is guaranteed at least three games with two of them already on the schedule. After each team plays its scheduled two games, standings will be created based on win-loss record, head-to-head and point differential.

The two teams that top the standings will feature in Wednesday night’s championship games. The remaining 16 teams will play in a consolation game with opponents selected based on where each team finishes in the standings.

Here’s the two games already scheduled for both Alabama and Auburn (all times Central):

Each team’s third opponent will not be determined until all games wrap up Tuesday night. It’s possible for the two teams to face each other in the championship game or in any of the consolation matchups.

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