SEC leader Alabama Basketball stands alone, along with other roundball-related ideas.
An Alabama Crimson Tide Big Dance lock in early February demonstrated why Nate Oats’ construction in Tuscaloosa is so remarkable.
More than titles, the guarantee of a spot in the NCAA Tournament speaks volumes about Nate Oats’ accomplishments in Tuscaloosa. In the 2021 and 2023 seasons, Oats and the Crimson Tide won the SEC Regular Season Championship as well as the SEC Tournament, demonstrating their impressive championship success. However, winning titles isn’t possible every year. Every season, the best teams are able to make it to the NCAA Tournament. This season, Alabama will make it to their fourth straight. Only Tennessee has made more NCAA Tournament appearances in a row than any other SEC team. Alabama is now an NCAA team every season according to Nate Oats. It’s a huge accomplishment to become a Big Dance staple, considering what came before him in Tuscaloosa.
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Six basketball programs from the SEC have participated in more than 18 NCAA Tournaments. Kentucky, of course,
tops the list with 61 Big Dance seasons. Next up is Missouri, at thirty Tennissees at twenty-five, Alabama,Tennissees, and Florida, at twenty-four and twenty-three, respectively. The Auburn Tigers have 12 NCAA Tournament seasons under their belt, well behind the SEC leaders Arkansas (18), Texas A&M (15), and Vandy (15).
Prior to Nate Oats, supporters of Alabama basketball were used to suffering through every Selection Sunday and, far too frequently, not even having a bubble team. The years 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001 saw Alabama lose out on the Big Dance. The Crimson Tide only made it to one NCAA Tournament from 2007 to 2017, after making the field in five consecutive seasons from 2002 to 2006.
.. After Avery Johnson led Alabama back to the Big Dance in 2018, the team has only missed one NCAA Tournament in the intervening years. For the record, Alabama would not have been chosen in Nate Oats’ debut season even though there was no NCAA Tournament in 2020.
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Alabama Basketball’s Big Dance seeds
The Crimson Tide was now a 2-seed according to Joe Lunardi heading into Wednesday night. It will be challenging to hold onto that seed with a demanding finishing schedule. Alabama’s seeding on Selection Sunday will probably be between 2-4. The Crimson Tide would not fall to a 6-seed even in the event of a near-total collapse. Some projections have the Crimson Tide as a sure thing to qualify for the NCAA Tournament, with a better than 60% chance of making another Sweet 16 and a better than 20% chance of making the Final Four.
Whatever the outcome of the Crimson Tide’s 2023–24 campaign, Nate Oats has accomplished remarkable things in Tuscaloosa.
