The Ride to No.1 for Alabama and Oats
After the 2021-22 season, Alabama head coach Nate Oats and his staff knew things had to change if they were going to sustain the success they showed the season before when they won the SEC regular season and tournament championship. There was a lot of attrition in the offseason following a disappointing end to an inconsistent season. Alabama had a total of eight players leave the program (five transfers, three professionals), so the coaching staff had to fill those spots with players that would buy into what Nate Oats was trying to build and sustain.
Insert a top-10 recruiting class.
Alabama signed one of the best recruiting classes in the country, with high-upside freshmen who could make a huge impact on Day 1. The jewel of the class was a consensus five-star and High School All-American, Brandon Miller. Miller is the type of talent that most programs only see come through once in a blue moon. Everyone knew he was a great player, but he has shown even more this season. Add in a top 10 transfer in Mark Sears and getting former five-star guard Nimari Burnett back from injury, and Alabama has a totally different squad.
Alabama headed off for its foreign tour with a bunch of players whofans, and even coaches, were excited to see play for the first time in-game action. They went undefeated and defeated a top 25 FIBA Chinese national team handily. Fans definitely got excited for what this season could bring based on a few games against teams nobody in Alabama probably knows about. This team just looked and played differently from the previous year’s team did. They looked hungry and loved playing together, and that can be a dangerous thing in basketball.
The season was quickly approaching, and Alabama had a secret scrimmage planned against a top 20 preseason team in TCU. This was going to be the first real test for Alabama and the group of newcomers. Even though Alabama was missing a couple of key players, TCU dominated Alabama in the scrimmages. You never know what to take from those scrimmages, but what it gives the coaches is fuel to work and get the players better.
That is just what they did.
Alabama opened the season ranked No. 20 preseason and had the most difficult non-conference schedule in the country ahead of it. What would that mean for a team made up of mainly freshmen and newcomers? It was an opportunity to show Alabama is back and they’re coming for it all. Alabama started the season off hot at 9-1 through 10 games with wins over No. 1 North Carolina, No. 12 Michigan State, and arguably the best win in the country at No. 4 Houston. They had one game against No. 20 Connecticut where they played great for 80% of the game, but they just fell apart in the other 20% and lost by 15.
Alabama would then proceed to go 14-2 in their next 16 games, starting 12-0 in SEC play for the first time in program history and tying the best start in the first 25 games in program history (22-3). This team was built differently, and they’re playing like they’re the best team in the country (because they are). They are a combined 13-3 in Quadrant 1/2 games this season, have top-five SOS, and are currently the No. 1 team in the country in the AP and USA Today Coaches Poll.
Looking ahead to what’s to come for Alabama, they currently sit 12-0 in SEC play and have won 10 of those games by double digits, all while not allowing more than 69 points in a single conference game. They’re the No. 2 ranked KenPom team (highest in program history), they’re one of two teams (Houston) to have a top 15 ranked offense and defense, and they’re essentially locked into at least a top-two seed in the NCAA Tournament. They have a big matchup with Tennessee on February 15 in Knoxville, a game that was a potential top-5 matchup just a couple of weeks ago. Now, Tennessee has lost 3 of their last 4 and will be desperate to right the ship against Alabama.
Looking at the final six games of conference play and Alabama should be favored in all 6 games. Can Alabama go 18-0 in conference play? If they beat Tennessee, it certainly seems likely. Kentucky (2014-15) and Florida (2013-14) are the only two teams in the brief history of 18-game conference schedules to go undefeated in conference play. Alabama has an opportunity to join that group of elite teams.
Alabama has never been a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but that seems very likely this season, and historically that means a great chance to make the Final Four and win a national championship. Since 1985, 23 of the 36 national champions were No. 1 seeds. You want to be part of those good odds and Alabama is in a great spot to be there.
While there are still 6 games left in the regular season, a conference tournament, and the NCAA Tournament still left to be played, it is hard not to look back and marvel over how historic this season has been for Alabama. Alabama fans have dreamt of this for a long time and thought it was just a wild dream, but Nate Oats has proven it is indeed a reality that Alabama is among the premier college basketball programs in the country.
Sit back and enjoy the ride, Alabama fans. You deserve this.