Top teams to face off Saturday

FAYETTEVILLE — The SEC’s top two teams — preseason conference favorite Tennessee and last year’s champion Alabama — battle on Saturday in Tuscaloosa, Ala., with sole possession of first place likely to be at stake.

Tipoff is at 8 p.m. (ESPN) at Coleman Coliseum, where Alabama has won 16 consecutive games and has survived as the only SEC team not to lose at home this season.

Tennessee moved up to a season-high No. 4 Monday in the Associated Press Top 25, while Alabama dropped a spot to No. 14 after Saturday’s 117-95 road loss to Kentucky.

Tennessee is unlikely to be fazed by the stakes or the environment, as the Volunteers have racked up five league road wins already. The Vols have won their last four games by an average of 26 points per game, including an 86-51 beat-down of Texas A&M on Saturday, since falling 85-69 at the Aggies on Feb. 10.

Prior to Saturday night, the Crimson Tide faces a tough road test on Wednesday at Ole Miss, which fell to 14-2 at home after a 72-59 loss Saturday to South Carolina. Tennessee has a big home game against Auburn, which is sitting alone in third place (10-4), on Wednesday.

The game will pit the SEC’s top scorers in Alabama guard Mark Sears (20.4) and Tennessee guard Dalton Knecht (20.2), the only players in the conference at 20-plus points per game.

Hot coaches are also on tap. Tennessee’s Rick Barnes notched his 800th career win with the blasting of Texas A&M. He is the 15th Division I coach with 800 wins, joining Kentucky’s John Calipari as active SEC coaches to hit that milestone.

Alabama Coach Nate Oats, named to the Naismith Coach of the Year Late Season Watch List last week, was hot under the collar after his team’s 117-95 loss at Kentucky on Saturday, calling out the Tide’s lack of defense.