AP Poll voter goes viral on social media over take on Alabama in the wake of loss to Tennessee
Nate Oats’ ridiculous decision has turned off a lot of people.
The Tennessee Volunteers were the darlings of the basketball world on Saturday. The Vols went into Tuscaloosa and knocked off the Alabama Crimson Tide 79-73 in a game that had a lot of eyeballs on it across the country.
And that’s because NBA G League player Charles Bediako was on the floor for the Crimson Tide. The former Alabama center (2021-23) made waves all of last week when a local judge granted a temporary restraining order that made him eligible to play last Saturday.
Even though Bediako put up 13 points on 5-6 from the floor, Tennessee overcame him and the rest of the Crimson Tide, and the reaction on social media from a number of fan bases, including Tennessee’s own social media account, was pretty strongly mocking the Vol’s interstate rival.
Still, the Vols, for some reason found themselves on the outside looking in in the latest AP Poll rankings. Tennessee was the last team out with the most votes received. Alabama, despite the loss and with the same overall and SEC record as Tennessee, stayed in the poll at No. 23.
However, one voter took his thoughts to social media and explained why he didn’t vote for the Crimson Tide this week. Connor Earegood, who covers Michigan State basketball for The Detroit News, says he didn’t rank Alabama this week.
Michigan State voter goes viral for explanation of why he didn’t vote for Alabama after loss to Tennessee
“Today’s AP Poll is out,” Earegood wrote. “A note on my ballot: I did not rank Alabama this week. I will not rank a team that has to circumvent the rules through a court order just to win (and still lost). To me, that’s a team admitting its own weakness.”
It’s a fair move, and while the AP Poll doesn’t move the needle much when Selection Sunday comes around, it’s still a fair form of protest that’s allowed for what’s been, frankly, a ridiculous decision. It’s questionable that the selection committee could take action to punish them, give the language of the temporary restraining order, as it states that Alabama shall not be punished for playing him. But the media punishing the Crimson Tide certainly is fair game.
We’ll see what ultimately happens with Bediako’s case, but for the time being, it appears as though one voter — and perhaps more to come in the weeks ahead — are making their disapproval Nate Oats’ most recent roster nonsense loud and clear.
