As expected, Head Coach Nate Oats and his Alabama Crimson Tide are on to the Sweet 16 after blowing through the first two opponents. As the lights get brighter for the Crimson Tide, Alabama plays better. For some, like Purdue and Kansas, the bright lights brought out the worst possible outcome, but for Alabama, they aren’t scared of the spotlight. If anything, Alabama embraces it with a mindset only found in teams that win National Championships. Winning a National Championship in college basketball is one of the hardest things to do in sports. Not only do you have to be the last team standing out of 68 competitors, but you also have to luck combined with the right talent.

Head Coach Nate Oats and his Alabama Crimson Tide Basketball team have all that and then some. Sure, Alabama has the best player in college basketball Brandon Miller, but they also have a supporting cast to pick up the slack when Miller isn’t playing to his potential. Guys like Jahvon Quinerly and Charles Bediako bring up the rear when Brandon Miller isn’t producing. Not to mention, Alabama can also go nine to ten guys deep on their roster, leaving Alabama with the luxury of being well-rested throughout the game.

Heading into the 2023 SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament in Nashville, there were questions surrounding Alabama if the Crimson Tide would be able to compete in a Tournament setting. As we saw in the SEC Tournament, not only did Alabama do well in Tournament play, but the Crimson Tide dominated everyone, including Texas A&M, in the SEC Tournament Championship game. Alabama carried that over to the first two rounds of the 2023 NCAA Tournament.

Often teams will take the mindset of their Head Coach, for Alabama, 2022-2023 have fallen in after Head Coach Nate Oats. Oats came to Alabama from Buffalo, where Coach Coats established his teams as a blue-collar, scrappy bunch of guys. Alabama Basketball has adopted the blue-collar materiality to help the Crimson Tide under the bright lights of the NCAA Tournament. Not many teams have started the NCAA Tournament as the top seed and finished as National Champions, Alabama, has the pieces to do just that.

Alabama Basketball is just once in lifetime basketball team that you hope for the sake of the sport; they finish the job and earn the honor of being called NCAA Tournament National Champions.

Alabama will play in the South Regional Sweet 16 on Friday night against San Diego State in Louisville, Kentucky, at the KFC Yum Center.