Alabama men’s basketball’s path to its first ever national championship is officially in focus, as the team is set to take on the Horizon League champion, Robert Morris, on Friday.
The Crimson Tide is the No. 6 overall seed in the tournament, making it a 2 seed in the East Region of the bracket. Its opponent is the No. 59 overall seed and is on the 15 line. Alabama will play at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, for the first round and the second round if it wins.
The regular season ended on a high note for the Crimson Tide, as it beat No. 1 Auburn at the buzzer. However, a blowout loss in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament to eventual champion Florida, combined with an injury to starting forward Grant Nelson, has fans questioning how far the team can advance.
Alabama head coach Nate Oats believes that his team has the potential to return to the Final Four.
“Anything short of a Final Four is a disappointment in my opinion,” he said. “We’re more than capable of making it back to a Final Four and winning games in the Final Four.”
The Colonials are making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2015, where they lost in the first round to the eventual national champion Duke Blue Devils. The team clinched the berth with an 89-78 win over Youngstown State in the Horizon League Tournament final.
The rest of the East Region features the following matchups:
1 seed Duke vs. 16 seed American/Mount St. Mary’s (winner of First Four game)
No. 8 Mississippi State vs. No. 9 Baylor
No. 5 Oregon vs. No. 12 Liberty
No. 4 Arizona vs. No. 13 Akron
No. 6 BYU vs. No. 11 VCU
No. 3 Wisconsin vs. No. 14 Montana
No. 7 Saint Mary’s vs. No. 10 Vanderbilt
The madness will tip off for Alabama on Friday at 11:40 a.m. CT. The game can be streamed on truTV. With a win, the Crimson Tide would face off against the winner of the 7 vs 10 game featuring No. 7 Saint Mary’s and No. 10 Vanderbilt on Sunday.
