Alabama basketball heads to the SEC Tournament needing to hit a reset of sorts.

The Crimson Tide hasn't been playing its best basketball of late. If not for Latrell Wrightsell's triple that tied the game against Arkansas and forced overtime, Alabama would have lost four of its past five games. Granted, several of those games haven't been easy ones, but the Crimson Tide hasn't been on an upward trajectory.

The good news for Alabama is that Wrightsell is back and getting back into game shape. He had missed four games, and really five considering he didn't play much against Florida in his first contest back. Wrightsell is as big of a difference maker as just about any on the roster. He's one of the most efficient offensive players in the country and a solid defender. It's no coincidence Alabama lost some games while he was out of the lineup with a head injury.

But now he's back. Does that mean the Crimson Tide (21-10) can make a run in March Madness? What about the SEC Tournament? Alabama received the No. 3 seed and a double bye, making its first matchup on Friday night.

Here are our predictions for Alabama in the conference tournament, which the Crimson Tide will aim to win for a third time under coach Nate Oats in his five season in Tuscaloosa.

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Alabama basketball SEC Tournament prediction

No. 14 seed Missouri and No. 11 seed Georgia will play Wednesday, and the Bulldogs will win that game; the Tigers haven't been able to beat an SEC team all season. That will setup a matchup between Georgia and No. 6 seed Florida on Thursday, and the Gators will win that game. That will then set up a third matchup of the season between Florida and Alabama on Friday night after the two split in the regular season. In the other part of the bracket, No. 7 seed Texas A&M will beat No. 10 Ole Miss on Thursday, setting up a matchup with No. 2 seed Kentucky that the Wildcats will win.

Alabama 88, Florida 85: The Gators beat the Crimson Tide recently in Gainesville, but Wrightsell barely played. He proves the difference maker in a competitive game between the Crimson Tide and Florida.

Kentucky 95, Alabama 87: The Crimson Tide won't be giving up 117 points again to the Wildcats. This game isn't in Lexington. But Alabama doesn't have enough defense to stop Kentucky, so the Crimson Tide falls in the conference semifinals.

Nick Kelly is the Alabama beat writer for The Tuscaloosa News, part of the USA TODAY Network, and he covers Alabama football and men's basketball. Reach him at nkelly@gannett.com or follow him @_NickKelly on X, the social media app formerly known as Twitter.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: SEC Tournament: Alabama basketball predictions for how far Tide will go