“I don't really care”: Nate Oats drops a blunt statement when asked to make a pitch for Alabama to be #1 in Monday's new AP Poll

Coach Nate Oats' Alabama Crimson Tide holds the No. 3 spot in the AP Top 25 Poll released earlier this week. They have been making a strong case to reach the pinnacle of college basketball, with 20-3 overall and 9-1 Southeastern conference record.

After the No. 1 Auburn Tigers and No. 2 Duke Blue Devils, both suffered upset defeats on Saturday, while Alabama defeated Arkansas 85-81, speculation has grown that the Crimson Tide will rise to the top spot when the new AP Poll is released on Monday.

However, when asked if he had a pitch to make Alabama the new No. 1 team after the Arkansas win, Oats delivered an honest response.

"I don’t really care to be honest with you. I'm probably not going to make a pitch," he said postgame (3:56). "I did see Auburn lost before we played, just because I try to watch SEC games when we’ve got a late game. So now we're tied and we just gotta take care of business. We've got full control of our own destiny to win the SEC right now. Wherever the voters want to put us, it doesn't matter.

"Let's try to win an SEC regular-season championship and let all that other stuff fall where it may."

Nate Oats' Crimson Tide is tied with Auburn at 9-1 in SEC play and still has a matchup with the Tigers left on the schedule. After their trip to Texas on Tuesday, Alabama will return home to face rival Auburn on Feb. 15 in a pivotal SEC showdown.

Nate Oats' Alabama rides a six-game win streak after Saturday's win

Since dropping to then No. 21 Ole Miss on Jan. 12, Alabama has stitched six straight wins, including victories over No. 14 Kentucky, No. 22 Mississippi State, Vanderbilt and Georgia.

The Ole Miss loss was the only blemish on Alabama's conference record and the only time they failed to score 70 points in a game this season. They scored 107 points against Oklahoma in the SEC regular-season opener.

On average, Nate Oats' men are putting up 90.1 points per game in the conference games. Despite such a high-powered offense, they have struggled at times to close out games, as was the case in Saturday's win over Arkansas.

Alabama maintained a double-digit lead for most of the second half, even extending it to 18 points at one point. However, they nearly let the Razorbacks back in the game, as the lead was cut to two points with just seconds remaining. However, in the end, they ended up winning 85-81 to extend their winning streak.