Alabama basketball had a chance on Saturday to knock off its biggest rival and become the No. 1 team in the country on Monday, but it fell short in a frustrating 94-85 loss against No. 1 Auburn at home. After trailing for most of the first half, Nate Oats and company stormed back to tie the game at 65 in the second half before Auburn pulled away to get the win.

This win puts Auburn alone in first place in the SEC standings at 11-1 while Alabama trails by a game at 10-2. The two teams will meet again later in the regular season on March 8, so Alabama will have a chance for revenge. However, in order to get its hands on the regular season conference title, Alabama must respond well to this loss and Oats challenged his team to do just that after Saturday's game according to ESPN.

“We're not in full control of our destiny to win the league outright, but we are in control of our destiny to at least get a tie going forward,” Oats said. “We'll see the maturity and leadership we have coming in on Monday.”

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If Alabama wants to end up at the top of the SEC standings in a few weeks, it has no time to dwell on this loss. All six of the Crimson Tide's remaining games are against ranked teams, so it will be very difficult for Oats and his team to keep stacking wins like they were before this loss.

Regardless of where Alabama finishes in the SEC, this gauntlet of a conference slate will undoubtedly prepare it for the NCAA Tournament. The Crimson Tide made a somewhat surprising run to the Final Four as a No. 4 seed last season, so they should be ready to make another go at it as one of college basketball's powerhouses this season. Oats has had his squad ready to rebound from losses before, so expect this Alabama basketball team to bounce back quickly from a tough loss and get back to winning ways.