For the first time in program history, Alabama will go dancing as a No. 1 seed. The Crimson Tide was awarded the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and the top seed in the South bracket during Sunday’s selection show, marking its third straight trip to the Big Dance.

“We’re excited to be the No. 1 overall seed,” Alabama head coach Nate Oats said in a Zoom call. “Our players have worked hard, accomplished a lot this year. I couldn’t be more proud of them, what they’ve been able to do. It’s nice they got rewarded with it.”

Alabama (29-5) will play Thursday at 1:45 p.m. CT on CBS against the winner of the No. 16-seed matchup between Texas A&M Corpus Christi (23-10) and Southeastern Missouri State (19-16). If the Crimson Tide advances, it will play the winner of No. 8 seed Maryland and No. 9 seed West Virginia on Saturday. Both the first- and second-round games will take place in Birmingham’s Legacy Arena.

“It's gonna be great to play to Birmingham,” Oats said. “We need to get that plays packed full of Alabama fans. That’s part of the rewards of having a great regular season, you get to play what should be essentially a home game in Birmingham for the first two rounds. So let’s make sure we pump that up, let’s get that arena filled with Alabama fans.

“Obviously I haven't seen Corpus Christi or SEMO play. I’ll be prepping for them on the ride home tomorrow. We’ll also have the staff working ahead for the Maryland/West Virginia game. A lot of different styles of basketball being played, it's not easy to make it to the second round, Sweet 16.”

If Alabama advances past its first two games in the tournament, it will travel to Louisville, Kentucky for the Sweet 16 and possibly the Elite Eight. This year’s Final Four will be held in Houston.

Along with Alabama, the South region features No. 2 seed Arizona, No. 3 seed Baylor, No. 4 seed Virginia, No. 5 seed San Diego State, No. 6 seed Crieghton, No. 7 seed Missouri, No. 8 seed Missouri, No. 9 seed West Virginia, No. 10 seed Utah State, No. 11 N.C. State, No. 12 seed Charleston, No. 13 seed Furman, No. 14 seed UC Santa Barbra, No. 15 seed Princeton and No. 16 seeds Texas A&M Corpus Christi and Southeastern Missouri State.

This season marks Alabama's 23rd overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Crimson Tide is 2-2 in the tournament under Oats, making the Sweet 16 in 21 before losing in the first round last year. Oats is 4-5 in the NCAA Tournament, going 2-3 during his four seasons as Buffalo's head coach.

Alabama’s deepest run in the NCAA Tournament came in 2004 when it reached the Elite Eight before losing to eventual national champion Connecticut. That year’s Crimson Tide was a No. 8 seed and upset No. 1 seed Stanford in the second round.