BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – College basketball season is officially upon us, and the first version of the AP preseason Top 25 rankings released Monday will have both Alabama and Auburn fans happy.

The Crimson Tide are coming off a historic 2023-2024 campaign that saw the program reach the Final Four for the first time in history.

A big part of that historic team was Guard Mark Sears, who announced earlier this summer that he was returning for another year inside Coleman Coliseum.

With Sears back in Tuscaloosa, alongside superstar forward Grant Nelson, many think that the Tide can make a run at the national championship this season, and it certainly shows in both the national and SEC preseason rankings.

Alabama was selected as the #1 team in the SEC preseason poll and was put as the #2 overall team in the country when the AP released their first iteration of the Top 25 rankings.

Sears was named as the SEC preseason player of the year while Nelson was named to the preseason 2nd team All-SEC team.

On the other side of the state, the Auburn Tigers are looking to get back to the Final Four for the first time since they made an appearance in 2019.

Under the leadership of HC Bruce Pearl, who is entering his 11th season on the plains, the Tigers have made the NCAA tournament five times and won the SEC Championship twice (2019,2024).

Returning to the Tigers for the 2024-2025 season is standout forward Johni Broome, who was named as the SEC Tournament MVP last season and was named to the preseason All-SEC 1st team Monday.

Also returning to the plains this season for Auburn is guard Chad Baker-Mazara, who was one of the top newcomers of the SEC last season. Baker-Mazara was a big piece of the Tigers’ SEC Championship team last season and was named to the preseason All-SEC 3rd team Monday.

With the leadership of Bruce Pearl on the sidelines and Broome and Baker-Mazara on the court, Auburn is poised to make a deep run this season and many others think so as well as the Tigers were ranked as the #11 team in the country Monday in the AP’s preseason Top 25.

In total, 9 SEC teams were ranked in the preseason Top 25. You can find those full rankings here.

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