{"id":156919,"date":"2025-03-26T02:43:04","date_gmt":"2025-03-26T02:43:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/alabama\/xs-and-oats-prepare-for-a-shootout-because-2025-byu-looks-a-whole-lot-like-2022-alabama\/"},"modified":"2025-03-26T02:43:04","modified_gmt":"2025-03-26T02:43:04","slug":"xs-and-oats-prepare-for-a-shootout-because-2025-byu-looks-a-whole-lot-like-2022-alabama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=156919","title":{"rendered":"Xs and Oats: Prepare for a shootout, because 2025 BYU looks a whole lot like 2022 Alabama"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/p>\n
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Let\u2019s begin with a pop quiz…<\/strong><\/p>\n
Without peeking, which of these teams is the 2021-2022 Alabama Crimson Tide and which is the 2024-2025 BYU Cougars?<\/p>\n
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\nTeam A: <\/strong>24th overall with the 9th ranked offense and the 71st ranked defense. 81.2 PPG scored (24th), 71.4 PPG allowed (140th). Win over a tournament team by 26 points, loss to a tournament team by 21.<\/li>\n
\nTeam B:<\/strong> 28th overall with the 7th ranked offense and the 92nd ranked defense. 81.8 PPG (4th) scored; 71.0 PPG allowed (110th). Win over a tournament team by 19 points, loss to a tournament team by 28.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
If you guessed that Alabama was Team B, congratulations. <\/p>\n
You surely see the point of this exercise. The Tide\u2019s opponent in the Sweet 16 is one that it is intimately familiar with, if not on the floor, at least in trajectory. That is because the road the Cougars walk upon is a well-worn path down which Alabama has already traveled. The Cougars are a high-octane squad with a lot of firepower, but with a defense that has veered from the merely passable all the way to the downright rotten. <\/p>\n
In the point spread preview, I said that BYU is Great Value Kentucky. The more apt comparison is probably to a slightly better version of Alabama team three years ago.<\/p>\n
So, let\u2019s talk about the Mormons (and not just the hot ones, like Eliza Dushku).<\/p>\n