# 1980–81 Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team

The 1980–81 Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team represented the University of Alabama in the 1980–81 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team's head coach was Wimp Sanderson, who was in his first season at Alabama. The team played their home games at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. They finished the season 18–11, 10–8 in SEC play, finishing in fourth place.
The Tide were eliminated in the first round of the SEC tournament by the Georgia Bulldogs. Afterwards, the Tide accepted a bid to the 1981 National Invitation Tournament and reached the second round where they lost to Duke University.

## Schedule and Results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular Season ||||||
| November 28, 1980* | | Northern Iowa | W 93–66 | 1–0 | Memorial Coliseum Tuscaloosa, Alabama |
| December 1, 1980* | | Wisconsin | W 90–75 | 2–0 | Memorial Coliseum Tuscaloosa, Alabama |
| December 6, 1980* | | La Salle | W 81–65 | 3–0 | Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| December 13, 1980 | | Texas Tech | W 66–64 | 4–0 | Memorial Coliseum Tuscaloosa, Alabama |
| December 15, 1980* | | Western Carolina | W 67–57 | 5–0 | Memorial Coliseum Tuscaloosa, Alabama |
| December 19, 1980* | | Old Dominion | W 71–63 | 6–0 | Toso Pavilion Santa Clara, California |
| December 20, 1980* | | No. 12 Wake Forest | L 66–79 | 6–1 | Toso Pavilion Santa Clara, California |
| December 27, 1980 | | Vanderbilt | L 91–93 | 6–2 (0–1) | Memorial Gymnasium Nashville, Tennessee |
| January 3, 1981 | | No. 18 Tennessee | L 69–70 | 6–3 (0–2) | Memorial Coliseum Tuscaloosa, Alabama |
| January 7, 1981 | | Mississippi State | W 80–69 | 7–3 (1–2) | Humphrey Coliseum Starkville, Mississippi |
| January 10, 1981 | | Ole Miss | W 74–48 | 8–3 (2–2) | Tad Smith Coliseum Oxford, Mississippi |
| January 14, 1981 | | No. 6 LSU | L 56–59 | 8–4 (2–3) | Memorial Coliseum Tuscaloosa, Alabama |
| January 17, 1981 | | No. 3 Kentucky | W 59–55 | 9–4 (3–3) | Memorial Coliseum Tuscaloosa, Alabama |
| January 21, 1981 | | Georgia | W 83–71 | 10–4 (4–3) | Stegeman Coliseum Athens, Georgia |
| January 24, 1981 | | Florida | L 91–97 | 10–5 (4–4) | O'Connell Center Gainesville, Florida |
| January 28, 1981 | | Auburn | W 83–73 | 11–5 (5–4) | Memorial Coliseum Tuscaloosa, Alabama |
| January 31, 1981 | | No. 11 Tennessee | L 58–62 | 11–6 (5–5) | Stokely Center Knoxville, Tennessee |
| February 4, 1981 | | Mississippi State | W 91–79 | 12–6 (6–5) | Memorial Coliseum Tuscaloosa, Alabama |
| February 7, 1981 | | Ole Miss | W 51–49 | 13–6 (7–5) | Memorial Coliseum Tuscaloosa, Alabama |
| February 11, 1981 | | No. 4 LSU | L 57–70 | 13–7 (7–6) | Maravich Assembly Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
| February 14, 1981 | | No. 11 Kentucky | L 62–77 | 13–8 (7–7) | Rupp Arena Lexington, Kentucky |
| February 18, 1981 | | Georgia | W 91–74 | 14–8 (8–7) | Memorial Coliseum Tuscaloosa, Alabama |
| February 21, 1981 | | Florida | W 57–44 | 15–8 (9–7) | Memorial Coliseum Tuscaloosa, Alabama |
| February 25, 1981 | | Auburn | L 54–56 | 15–9 (9–8) | Memorial Coliseum Tuscaloosa, Alabama |
| February 28, 1981 | | Vanderbilt | W 82–68 | 16–9 (10–8) | Memorial Coliseum Tuscaloosa, Alabama |
| SEC Tournament ||||||
| March 5, 1981 | (4) | (5) Georgia Second Round | L 80–88 | 16–10 | Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Birmingham, Alabama |
| NIT ||||||
| March 12, 1981* | | St. John's First round | W 73–69 | 17–10 | Alumni Hall Queens, New York |
| March 16, 1981* | | Duke Second round | L 70–75 | 17–11 | Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, North Carolina |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. SE=Southeast. ||||||