Alabama men’s basketball ticked off a few boxes for head coach Nate Oats last week and the national media noticed. For the first time since Nov. 27, the Crimson Tide cracked the Associated Press Top 25.

UA earned the No. 24 spot, with one voter ranking the Tide as high as 10th following an upset win over then-No. 8 Auburn and blowout of LSU. Fifteen voters failed to include Alabama on their ballots.

Long a favorite of the advanced analytics, Alabama managed its best win of the season over the rival Tigers. It was an even more impressive effort considering a blowout loss at Tennessee preceded it. The Tide sit atop the SEC West standings with a 6-1 record with the Volunteers behind them at 5-1. Alabama will host the Vols on March 2.

While the turnaround was certainly a group effort — Grant Nelson, Rylan Griffen and Jarin Stevenson put up strong performances — the Tide was once again led by its point guard. Mark Sears was named conference player of the week for the second time this year, averaging 21.5 points, 6.5 assists and 4.0 rebounds across the two victories.

Against SEC opponents, Sears has failed to crack double-digit points just once when he was injured against Missouri on Jan. 16. The Tide scored 100-plus points for the sixth time this season versus LSU.

“We do get Tennessee back at our place, but if we don’t guard better, we’re not going to be able to beat them,” Oats said Saturday. “We’ve got to go to Auburn yet, if we don’t guard better, we’re not going to win a road game at Auburn.

“There’s some other really good games. We’ve got Kentucky, we’ve got to play at Kentucky. If you don’t guard, their offense is very high-powered and they’re playing really well on the offensive end, for the most part. Our defense has to get better. If our defense gets to where we need it to get, we’ll win a championship. If not, it going to be hard for us to do it.”

Per ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, Alabama would be a No. 3 seed if March Madness started today. The Tide had been considered no worse than a five-seed due to its offensive output. With an improving defense and consistent rotation, UA finds itself No. 11 overall, behind Creighton.

Alabama has a chance to stack a couple more wins before traveling to Auburn on Feb. 7. The Tide will travel to Georgia on Wednesday and host Mississippi State on Feb. 3 UGA and MSU are ranked 70th and 32nd nationally, per KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency metrics.

Nick Alvarez is a reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @nick_a_alvarez or email him at [email protected].