Alabama basketball hits historic low in blowout loss at Oklahoma

Alabama basketball played a game that featured a bit of history Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately, it is not the kind of history the Tide were hoping for after rising to a No. 2 ranking on the latest AP Poll.

Alabama was clicking while riding a 9-game winning streak into an SEC/Big 12 Challenge road game at Oklahoma. Unfortunately, the Sooners put a stop to that in dominant fashion, crushing the Crimson Tide with a 93-69 win in Norman.

No matter how you look at that 24-point loss, a bit of history is involved for Alabama. CBS Sports initially noted that the 24-point loss was the largest margin of defeat ever for a top-2 team in a loss to an unranked team.

Meanwhile, ESPN Stats & Info has the 24-point defeat to an unranked team as the third largest by an AP top-2 team. Either way, that’s a disappointing result after Alabama was making a serious case to be the No. 1 team in the country prior to Saturday.

No. 2 Alabama lost by 24 POINTS to Oklahoma.

That’s the largest margin of defeat a top-two team has EVER suffered to an unranked team. pic.twitter.com/NsiOKOhrKw

— CBS Sports CBB (@CBSSportsCBB) January 28, 2023

Oklahoma’s 24-point win over No. 2 Alabama is the 3rd largest ever by an unranked team against an AP top-2 team.

The AP Poll has been around for 75 years.

Grant Sherfield finished with 30, just 2 points shy of a career-high. pic.twitter.com/HVTwswo4OM

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 28, 2023

On the latest AP Poll, Alabama received 23 first-place votes. That mark trailed only top-ranked Purdue with the Boilermakers claiming 39 first-place votes.

Needless to say, it’s likely the Tide will experience a brief stay in the No. 2 slot when the latest AP Top 25 drops on Monday.

Paul Harvey

Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.