Alabama is traditionally recognized as a “football school,” whereas in the past, the Auburn Tigers have often had more success on the basketball court.

Obviously things have changed.

Coming off of their first national championship in more than 50 years, it appears that, right now, the Tigers have the upper hand on the gridiron, while Bama continues to build momentum on the hardwood.

Just this week, the Tigers announced the addition of Kris Frost, a Rivals five-star prospect, listed as the 20th-best high school player in the nation.

Frost, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound gifted athlete from Matthews, N.C. who can play both receiver as well as outside linebacker, was recruited heavily by Auburn, Michigan, LSU, Clemson, Georgia Tech and North Carolina, and it looked as if the Wolverines were going to win the recruiting battle. At the last minute, Frost turned his sights to the Plains, and will join the 2011 Tiger football team.

During his senior season at Butler High School, Frost recorded 103 tackles and five quarterback sacks.

He will be key in helping replenish a team being vacated by the likes of Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton, defensive superstar Nick Fairley, and receiver Darvin Adams.

On the same day, however, that Frost was making his commitment to the Tigers football team, coach Anthony Grant and his Bama basketball team was beating up on John Calipari and his 12th ranked Kentucky Wildcats.

With just 15:31 left in the contest on Tuesday night, it appeared the Alabama was going to cruise to an easy victory as they enjoyed a 20-point lead.

What was impressive was the manner in which the Tide controlled the game.

Not known for their 3-point shooting, Alabama nailed half of their 3-point attempts, going 7 of 14.

Kentucky, on the other hand, leads the SEC in 3’s but hit only a third of their attempts, going 7 of 21.

A late surge by Kentucky erased Bama’s big lead and with just 10 second left in the contest, the Wildcats found themselves down by only 1 point and in possession of the basketball. Brandon Knight turned the ball over, however, Alabama’s Ben Eblen made a free throw, and Coleman Coliseum went wild as Bama came away with a 68-66 win.

The victory put Alabama in the drivers seat in the SEC West Division with an 11-7 record, and 3-1 in conference play.

At 7-10, the Auburn Tigers are the worst team in the SEC and one of the worst in the country. As a matter of fact, there is not another SEC team with a losing record, and it is likely to get worse as we get into the meat of the season.

What a weird time we are living in. Auburn is the national champs in football, Gene Chizik is the winner of the Bear Bryant Award, and Alabama is beating up the SEC in basketball.

Who woulda thunk it?

Hit ‘em straight

Dale Jones is a writer for The Islander and a member of the Alabama Sports Writers Associaton.

Reach him at djones@gulfcoastnewspapers.com