Bama Football Getting Ready For Mocs; Tide Men's Basketball Falls To Dayton; Crimson Tide No. 1 In Latest CFP Rankings; Offensive Tackle Jedrick Wills Commits To Tide Football; Complete List Of 2017 Alabama Football Commitments; Tide Softball Signs Kendall Beth Sides; Jalen Hurts Receives 2 Additional Weekly Honors

Bama Football Getting Ready For Mocs

Photo Credit: AL.com/Vasha Hunt

Only two games remain in the regular season for the Alabama Crimson Tide football team, and the one this week is no less important that the ten that have come before if Bama wants to continue unhindered to its 17th national championship. The Chattanooga Mocs are coming to T-town.

The Tide worked out yesterday for approximately two hours in full pads at the Thomas-Drew Practice Fields on the beautiful UA campus in Tuscaloosa. This was the first practice of the week in preparation for Chattanooga.

Running back Bo Scarbrough sported a brace on his right knee, though dressed in a white jersey. It is still uncertain as to whether Scarbrough will play on Saturday, but will be available should he be needed. Reuben Foster practiced, still with the club on his hand to protect that broken finger.

The Mocs will slither into Bryant-Denny Stadium on Saturday for a 6:05 p.m. CT kickoff. The contest will air live on ESPN2 with Dave Neal, Matt Stinchcomb and Olivia Harlan handling the coverage for the network. Chattanooga enters Saturday's contest with an impressive 8-2 overall record as well as a 6-2 mark in the Southern Conference.

This will be the 13th meeting between the two schools, with Alabama having won all 12 previous contests with the Mocs, including a 49-0 victory in 2013. In Tuscaloosa, Bama boasts a 9-0 record the Mocs, as well as going 3-0 in Birmingham. Alabama head coach Nick Saban is 2-0 all-time vs. Chattanooga, with wins in 2009 (45-0) and 2013.

-----------------------------------------------

Alabama Men's Basketball

Crimson Tide Falls To Dayton 77-72

Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics/Robert Sutton

They hung tough, but in the end the Dayton Flyers prevailed over the Crimson Tide as the Alabama men's basketball team fell 77-72 last night at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa. In a game that had seven ties and five lead changes, Bama took the nationally-ranked Flyers to the final seconds before succombing.

"We had a hard fought game [last night]," UA men's basketball head coach Avery Johnson said. "I'm really proud of our guys. We didn't have as good of a second half as we wanted to. I thought early on in the second half we defended the three-point line well, but we gave up two critical threes during that stretch. Scoochie (Smith) got away from us a little bit on the drive. We missed some shots that we normally make. We didn't do a god job of taking care of the ball at the end.

"There were a lot of situations that we can grow and learn from, and we're definitely going to teach and help our guys improve. We had so many teachable moments that happened tonight. We had a press where we didn't get in the correct position and they got away from us. Hopefully we'll learn from it, but again I'm not in a situation where I'm down on our guys. We've come a long way from the Dayton game last year."

Alabama senior Corban Collins and freshman Braxton Key led the Tide with 15 points each. Key also picked up a team-high six rebounds. Redshirt freshman Dazon Ingram also performed well, racking up 14 points and a team-leading seven assists compared to only two turnovers.

Last night the Bama defense bocked three shots as well as forcing 11 turnovers in the contest. The Crimson Tide out-rebounded the Flyers 40-28, as well as holding an 18-5 advantage on the offensive glass.

The Flyers finished with four players in double-figures. Scoochie Smith led the Flyers with 20 points, while Cooke scored 19 and added a game-high 10 rebounds to lead Dayton.


Next up, Alabama will play its second game of the Las Vegas Main Event in Coleman Coliseum this Friday night, November 18th. The Tide takes on Ball State at 8 p.m. CT on the SEC Network.

Team Statistics

Game Stats	UD	UA
FG%	.545	.390
3FG%	.500	.261
FT%	.606	.667
RB	28	40
TO	11	11
STL	5	4

Click to view Coach Avery Johnson press conference:  Johnson Post-Game Press Briefing

Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics/Robert Sutton

-----------------------------------------------


CFP Top-25 National Rankings
Crimson Tide Again No. 1

Photo Credit: Associated Press

The University of Alabama Crimson Tide football team is again the No. 1 team in the land according to the College Football Playoff selection committee. Rounding out the top four slots, thus far, to play in the national playoffs and a shot at the national championship are Ohio State (2), Michigan (3) and Clemson (4). Either Ohio State or Michigan will be left out following their head-to-head matchup.

Six teams from the Southeastern Conference are in this week's poll, with Alabama being the only one in the top ten. Other SEC teams making the rankings are Auburn (15), LSU (16), Tennessee (19), Florida (23) and Texas A&M (25). That's four in the SEC West and two for the eastern division.

Here are the top 25 according to the CFP selection committee:

1. Alabama Crimson Tide

2. Ohio State

3. Michigan

4. Clemson

5. Louisville

6. Washington

7. Wisconsin

8. Penn State

9. Oklahoma

10. Colorado

11. Oklahoma State

12. Utah

13. USC

14. West Virginia

15. Auburn

16. LSU

17. Florida State

18. Nebraska

19. Tennessee

20. Boise State

21. Western Michigan

22. Washington State

23. Florida

24. Stanford

25. Texas A&M

-----------------------------------------------

Offensive Tackle Jedrick Wills Commits To Tide

Alabama-commit Jedrick Wills
Twitter Photo

As they say, "savages want to play with savages." University of Alabama football just picked up another savage, another great addition to the offensive line. Lexington (Kentucky) Lafayette four-star offensive tackle Jedrick Wills announced on Tuesday his verbal commitment to the Crimson Tide of Alabama. Wills becomes the 22nd commitment for the class of 2017 for Bama.

The 6' 5", 318-pound behemoth chose Alabama over quite an offer-list, including Michigan, Ohio State, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Notre Dame and others. Kentucky and Michigan had strongly been in consideration by the young man. Wills was recruited by Derrick Ansley and Brent Key.

The addition of Wills now give Nick Saban arguably the best-offensive line haul in the country, and perhaps the Tide boss's best ever on paper. Wills joins five-star offensive tackle Alex Leatherwood, the nation's number one JUCO offensive lineman Eilliot Baker, four-star offensive guard Kendall Randolph and three-star offensive guard Hunter Brannon as offensive line commitments to the Crimson Tide for 2017.

Wills is listed by the 247Sports composite as the No. 42 overall recruit and the No. 10 offensive tackle in the class of 2017.

247Sports says that with the addition of Wills, Alabama now passes Ohio State for the top recruiting class in the country. Should the ratings remain, this would make the seventh-consecutive No. 1 recruiting class according to 247Sports.

---------------------------------------------------

2017 Football Commitments For Alabama Football

With yesterday's announcement by Jedrick Wills of Lexington, Kentucky, the University of Alabama Crimson Tide football team currently has 22 student-athletes who have committed to furthering their football careers at the Capstone. As new commits are announced the list will be updated and released. 

Here is the complete list of 2017 commitments to UA as of 11/16/16:

• Najee Harris, RB (6-1, 210), Antioch, California 
• Alex Leatherwood, OL (6-4, 300), Pensacola, Florida
• Chadarius Townsend, ATH, (6-0, 180), Tanner, Alabama*
• Brian Robinson, RB (6-2, 210), Tuscaloosa, Alabama*
• VanDarius Cowan, LB (6-4, 217), Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
• Tua Tagovailoa, QB (6-1, 210), Honolulu, Hawaii
• Elliot Baker, OL (6-7, 295), City College of San Francisco (California)
• Mac Jones, QB (6-2, 185), Jacksonville, Florida
• Markail Benton, LB (6-2, 245), Phenix City, Alabama*
• Brandon Ruiz, K (5-10, 165), Gilbert, Arizona
• Tyrell Shavers, LB ( 6-6, 202), Lewisville, Texas
• Thomas Fletcher, C (6-2, 220), Bradenton, Florida
• Akial Byers, DL, (6-4,  275), Fayetteville, Arkansas
• Jhavonte Dean, (6-2, 189), Homestead, Florida
• Hunter Brannon, (6-4, 290), Cullman, Alabama*
• Jerry Jeudy, ( 6-1, 177), Deerfield Beach, Florida
• Kyriq McDonald, DB (5-11, 185), Madison, Alabama*
• Kendall Randolph, OL (6-5, 290), Madison, Alabama*
• Kedrick James, TE (6-5, 250), Waco, Texas
• Dylan Moses, LB (6-3, 235), IMG Academy, Bradenton, Florida
• Major Tennison, TE (6-6, 230), Bullard, Texas
• Jedrick Wills, OT, (6-5, 318), Lexington, Kentucky

*State of Alabama Recruits/Commitments

-------------------------------------------------


Alabama Softball Signs Kendall Beth Sides 

Graphics/Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics

Coach Patrick Murphy and the University of Alabama softball team has picked up a real gem in their second signee of the early signing period. Kendall Beth Sides has signed her National Letter of Intent to continue her softball career at the Capstone for the 2017-18 school year.

Concerning Side, Murphy commented, "Her summer ball coach, Jay Roberson, calls her the best lead-off hitter in the 2017 class.She has tremendous speed and bat control. KB has steadily improved year-after-year and we can't wait to see her in an Alabama uniform."

From Dora (Sumiton Christian School) Alabama, Sides is nicknamed "KB". At Summiton she won back-to-back 2A state titles in 2015 and 2016, earning Max Preps All-America honors both seasons. Sides was named the class 2A player of the year in 2016 and was Sumiton's offensive MVP. She holds national-career records in runs scored and stolen bases. Sides also plays club softball with the Birmingham Thunderbolts.

-------------------------------------------------


Jalen Hurts Receives Two Additional Weekly Honors

University of Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts
Photo Credit: Alabama Athletics

The kid is golden. No doubt about it.

University of Alabama true freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts has added two additional honors to his resume after last week's huge performance in the 51-3 beat-down of the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Hurts was selected as the Davey O'Brien Quarterback of the Week as well as the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award Player of the Week. 

Hurts accounted for 447 yards of total offense in this past Saturday's contest. He threw for a career-high 347 yards while rushing for 100 yards on his way to becoming the only quarterback in Crimson Tide history to rush for 100-plus yards while passing for 300-plus yards in a single game. And get this, Hurts accounted for five touchdowns, throwing for four scores while rushing for another, to tie the school record for total touchdowns in a game. He finished the day completing 28-of-37 pass attempts with four touchdown and one interception,  and rushed 11 times for 100 yards and one touchdown.

This was the fourth time in the 2016 season that Hurts has rushed for 100 or more yards while passing for at least 100 yards in the same game. His 447 yards of total offense against the Bulldogs lands him at number three for the single-game total in UA history, while his four touchdown passes finished one shy of the Alabama single-game record of five set by Gary Hollingsworth against Ole Miss back on October 7, 1969. The five total scores also gives Hurts a tie for the Alabama record for total touchdowns in a game.

The pair of national honors are Hurts' second and third this week. On Monday he was also selected as the Southeastern Conference's Co-Offensive Player of the Week.