Alabama basketball to open Emerald Coast Classic against Ohio State
The Alabama men's basketball team will open the Emerald Coast Classic with two games against Ohio State.
The tournament announced its semifinal matchups on Tuesday as the Crimson Tide and Buckeyes will square off on Nov. 24 at 6 p.m. The other semifinal game will feature Oregon and Santa Clara with the championship and third-place game scheduled for Nov. 25.
Along with its trip to Destin, Florida, Alabama is scheduled to play Purdue in Toronto, face Arizona in Phoenix and travel to Creighton in another attempt by Alabama head coach Nate Oats to schedule tough non-conference games.
"If you don't play the best, I don't think you can be the best,” Oats said after winning the SEC Tournament title. “... We won on the road at Houston. The Carolina win doesn't look as good now. They were No. 1 in the country when we beat them. I thought we played pretty well up there. We beat Michigan State. At the time they were a little better. They're still a really good program. We're going to continue to schedule that way."
