CLEVELAND — Alabama basketball begins its NCAA Tournament journey Friday. The Crimson Tide earned the No. 2 seed in the East region in this year’s Big Dance and is looking to get back to the Final Four after reaching the milestone for the first time last season.

The first team in Alabama’s way of that goal is No. 15 seed Robert Morris. The Colonials won the Horizon League conference tournament and regular season titles. They boast the conference’s Player of the Year, Alvaro Folgueiras and Defensive Player of the Year Amarion Dickerson. Leading scorer Kam Woods played with Mark Sears on the AAU circuit, was a teammate of Kool-Aid McKinstry at Pinson Valley High School, and went to the Final Four himself last season with NC State.

“They're good,” Coach Nate Oats said of Robert Morris on Thursday. “To have the leading scorer, the Defensive Player of the Year in your conference and the Player of the Year in your conference be three different guys I think says a lot about the depth and the talent that they've got, and our guys need to recognize that.”

Fortunately, Alabama has plenty of experience facing talented teams. The Tide has played 25 games against teams in the NCAA Tournament squads, the most of any team in the field. Its returning experience from last year’s Final Four team should give it an added boost as it looks to make noise once again in March.

Overlooking a team in the NCAA Tournament can put teams in Alabama's position on the wrong side of history for upsets and Cinderella runs. As the Tide looks to avoid that fate Friday, its first tournament game is also a chance to get some much-needed momentum, after Alabama dropped five of its final nine games against SEC opponents.

“They have confidence knowing what we need to do, but we've got to go out and do it,” Oats said. “Looking forward to playing the game tomorrow, and then just kind of getting it started. It's a lot of buildup to it. Can't wait to get out there and get started.”

Here’s everything you need to know about Friday’s matchup.

Who: No. 2 seed Alabama vs. No. 15 seed Robert Morris

When: 11:40 a.m. CT Friday, March 21

Where: Rocket Arena, Cleveland, Ohio

Watch: TruTV (Play-By-Play: Spero Dedes, Analyst: Jim Spanarkel, Sideline: Jon Rothstein)

Listen: Crimson Tide Sports Network | SIRIUS/XM 134/201 (Play-By-Play: Chris Stewart, Analyst: Bryan Passink)

Mark Sears: 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, graduate

Stats: 18.7 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 4.9 apg, 40.3% FG, 33.8% 3-pt

Chris Youngblood: 6-foot-4, 177 pounds, freshman

Stats: 10.0 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 0.9 apg, 44.0% FG, 38.6% 3-pt

Labaron Philon: 6-foot-4, 177 pounds, freshman

Stats: 10.9 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 3.6 apg, 45.7% FG, 30.1% 3-pt

Grant Nelson: 6-foot-11, 230 pounds, graduate

Stats: 11.8 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 1.6 apg, 52.8% FG, 27.4% 3-pt

Clifford Omoruyi: 6-foot-11, 250 pounds, graduate

Stats: 7.6 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 0.9 apg, 73.5% FG

DJ Smith: 6-feet, 160 pounds, junior

Stats: 9.0 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 3.1 apg, 40.1% FG, 39.0% 3-pt

Kam Woods: 6-foot-2, 185 pounds, senior

Stats: 15.1 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 5.1 apg, 37.9% FG, 28.8% 3-pt

Josh Omojafo: 6-foot-5, 200 pounds, junior

Stats: 11.4 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 1.4 apg, 44.2% FG, 38.4% 3-pt

Amarion Dickerson: 6-foot-7, 185 pounds, junior

Stats: 12.9 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 1.4 apg, 53.4% FG, 29.4% 3-pt

Alvaro Folgueiras: 6-foot-9, 215 pounds, sophomore

Stats: 14.1 ppg, 9.1 rpg, 3.1 apg, 55.0 FG, 42.3% 3-pt

The status of Nelson will be a major factor Friday, as well as for Alabama’s second-round game should the Tide advance. Nelson is listed as a game-time decision after he suffered a left leg injury in Alabama’s loss to Florida in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament.

Should Nelson be unable to go, Alabama will have to replace the forward in its starting lineup. That could see Jarin Stevenson, who started alongside Nelson for much of the season before Alabama made the switch to a three-guard lineup, return to the starting five. The sophomore is averaging 5.9 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.

Stevenson also boasts NCAA Tournament experience from a season ago as a member of Alabama’s Final Four team. The sophomore’s stats might not jump off the page, but he’s already shown what he’s capable of in the postseason and Oats has been pleased with his progress in Year 2.

“I think he made a big jump,” Oats said. “He kind of came back, driving the ball with a lot more physicality. I think he's got some confidence knowing he's done it at this level already. Shoot, he went 5 of 8 from three and had 19 points in an Elite Eight game to send his team to the Final Four when he should have been a senior in high school, which is pretty impressive.”

Another younger member of Alabama’s roster has already cemented his place in the starting lineup and is looking to make an impact on the biggest stage. No light has seemed too bright Philon. The four-star freshman made headlines with his work ethic in the offseason. He’s turned that momentum into a starting role and even emerged as a potential first-round NBA Draft pick this season.

“I think the best way you remove doubt and kind of play with a chip on your shoulder is you just compete, try to out-compete,” Oats said. “I think he's got one of the best guys — Mark is a first-team All-American. He's got arguably the best guard in the country to go against every day in practice and he took advantage of it. He got better by going against Mark. There was a lot of days his team beat Mark's [in practice], and I think it made Mark better having a guy like Labaron in there to make him better.”

“Every day in the summer, he couldn't take days off or he's going to lose. Labaron competed a lot harder than what a lot of people thought. I think that's what got him to the point he's got.”

Alabama has a deep guard rotation, but Philon’s two-way ability makes him a unique cog for the Tide in March Madness. The Tide will also need the best out of both Philon and Stevenson if it wants to make another run in the 2025 tournament, especially if Alabama is down its leading rebounder for a portion of that run.

“To have the competitiveness that these two young guys have and then to kind of pair it with all the experience we have, I've had a luxury in coaching this team this year,” Oats said. “And hopefully, that bodes well for us here in this tournament.”

Oats has some familiarity with the host site for Alabama’s first NCAA Tournament game. The Tide made the long journey to Cleveland to begin its March Madness tour, a city where Oats did plenty of winning with his previous team.

“I've been here in Cleveland a few times," Oats said. "We always had our MAC tournament here, so I love Cleveland. We've always had a lot of success in Cleveland.”

Alabama’s best player has also played a few postseason games inside Rocket Arena. Sears had a 4-1 record playing games in Cleveland during his two-season stint with Ohio at the start of his college career.

“It's pretty good," Oats said of Sears' record. "I thought I was good, where I'm 9-1, but he's right there with me. So between the two of us, we've won a few games down here in the arena we're going to play in.”

Oats’ familiarity with the MAC helped give him some added confidence in recruiting Sears after his second season at Ohio. Sears worked his way to become one of the most sought-after mid-major transfers and took his career to heights even Oats didn’t foresee in Tuscaloosa.

Sears took his experience in the MAC to lead Alabama to its first Final Four appearance in school history. He’s a two-time first-team All-SEC selection and became Alabama’s first-ever consensus All-American this season.

“It's good to see guys that work hard get rewarded for their work, and I think Mark is a prime example of it," Oats said. "And I think the MAC got him a great start, got him some confidence that he could play at a high level in college, and he kind of took that, ran with it, and he's done really well for his home state team in Alabama.

Sears and Oats both broke out in the MAC, winning games in Cleveland to bring their previous team's postseason success. Now the coach and fifth-year senior are hoping to conjure up some more Cleveland magic to get Alabama past the first weekend.

— For the first time in program history the Crimson Tide has earned a No. 4 seed or better in the NCAA Tournament in three straight seasons (No. 4 seed in 2024 and No. 1 seed in 2023) under Oats

— The Crimson Tide has scored 90-points or more in 18 games this season, which is the most in Division I

— Alabama matches the program record, appearing in its fifth-straight NCAA Tournament set back in 2002-06 and 1982-86

— Sears is one win away from becoming Alabama's all-time winningest player in NCAA Tournament games

— Sears joins Duke's Cooper Flagg, Mississippi State's Josh Hubbard and Marquette's Kam Jones as the only Power Five players with at least 600 points and 100 assists this season

— Philon became the first Alabama freshman since Collin Sexton (2018) to post 100 field goals, 100 rebounds and 100 assists in a single season