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The University of Alabama men’s basketball team is coming off a record-setting season that ended in disappointment.

But coach Nates Oats’ 17-7 squad has bounced back strong and currently is sitting atop the Southeastern Conference standings at 9-2 as the nation’s 15th-ranked team.

Will the Crimson Tide hold on to defend their SEC regular season title and make it to their first Final Four? Below we examine Alabama’s futures odds and prospects with March Madness closing in fast.

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Alabama’s SEC title odds (best: +130)

After a middling 6-5 start, the Tide has won 11 of their last 13 games, including nine of their first 11 SEC contests.

And heading into the weekend, the top of the SEC standings look like this:

• Alabama 9-2
• Auburn 9-3
• South Carolina 9-3
• Tennessee 8-3
• Florida 7-4
• Kentucky 7-4

Of those top six teams, only Florida isn’t ranked. And of the five ranked teams, only No. 22 Kentucky is outside the Associated Press’ top 15 with Tennessee at No. 8, South Carolina 11th, Auburn 13th and Alabama 15th.

That’s an elite logjam with much to be decided.

Alabama still leads the way in sportsbooks’ consensus SEC title odds at +105 as of Friday, followed by Tennessee (+230), Auburn (+235), South Carolina (+1875), Florida (+3750) and Kentucky (+4750).

Beginning with Saturday’s home date with Texas A&M (15-9, 6-5), the Crimson Tide has seven games remaining before the regular season ends March 9.

Including the game against the Aggies, five of Bama’s seven contests will be against the SEC’s top half, including the home-and-home dates with Florida and a March 2 home showdown against Tennessee. The Tide also visits Kentucky on Feb. 24.

Given tightly-bunched standings, Alabama likely will need to win all four of its remaining home games and at least win one — if not two — of its three road contests to successfully defend its SEC crown.

As a point of reference, last season’s Alabama team tied the program record with a 16-2 SEC record and still only finished one game ahead of second-place Texas A&M.

Alabama’s Final Four odds (best: +450)

Overall, the Brandon Miller/Jahvon Quinnerly-led 2022-23 Alabama squad won a program-record 31 games and earned a No. 1 seed for the first time in 24 all-time NCAA Tournament appearances.

But after opening with a pair of double-digit wins, the Tide was upended by fifth-seeded San Diego State 71-64 in the South Regional semifinals.

Alabama has advanced as far as the regional finals only once (2003-04) in its 24 Big Dance appearances, meaning it’s still waiting for its first Final Four.

The current Tide own consensus Final Four odds of +440 — the ninth-highest nationally — but some of the top college hoops metrics are even higher on Alabama.

The Crimson Tide checks in at No. 5 in Friday’s NCAA NET rankings (behind Houston, Purdue, Arizona and UConn) and seventh in guru Ken Pomeroy’s ratings, just behind No. 4 Auburn and No. 6 Tennessee. Bama, which leads the nation in scoring with an average of 90.3 points per game, also tops Pomeroy’s adjusted offensive efficiency ratings.

Senior guard Mark Sears leads the SEC in scoring with 20.5 points per outing on 51.3 percent shooting from the field and 44.4 percent accuracy from 3-point range. Alabama’s other four starters all are averaging at least 8.7 points per game.

Much like last season’s attack, it’s an offense capable of carrying the Tide to its first Final Four.

Alabama’s national championship odds (best: +2000)

As of Friday, Alabama owns the eighth-best national championship odds at a consensus +1950.

There are some Crimson Tide stats and metrics, though, that don’t bode well for a deep Big Dance run.

Bama ranks 12th in SEC with 76.9 points permitted per game (73rd in Pomeroy’s adjusted defensive efficiency) and is only 3-6 against NET Quad 1 opponents on the season, including losses to Purdue, Creighton, Arizona, Tennessee and Auburn.

The Tide is 11-1 at home but is 4-3 on the road and 2-3 in neural-site games.