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Alabama, Purdue announce date for 2025-2026 non-conference basketball matchup

by:Alex Byington•04/15/25•

_AlexByington

MarkSearsPurdue
Nov 15, 2024; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide guard Mark Sears (1) looks for an open teammate after passing Purdue Boilermakers guard Gicarri Harris (24) during the first half at Mackey Arena. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

A year after suffering their first loss of the 2024-25 season at Purdue‘s Mackey Arena, the Alabama men’s basketball team will get a chance to return the favor early next season. On Tuesday, the Boilermakers announced the date for the return game in the home-and-home series.

The return game, which will feature half of the 2024 Final Four teams and a potential preseason Top 10 matchup, will be played Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025 in Tuscaloosa’s Coleman Coliseum. A 13th-ranked Purdue dealt then-No. 2-ranked Alabama its first defeat of last season with a convincing 87-78 win on Nov. 15, 2024 from West Lafayette, Indiana.

The Crimson Tide will look differently in 2025-26 after losing several key pieces off last year’s veteran-led squad that made a second-straight Elite Eight appearance en route to finishing 28-9 overall and 13-15 in the SEC. The Boilermakers, meanwhile, also made a second-straight Sweet Sixteen run before losing to top-seeded Houston to finish 24-12 overall and 13-7 in Big Ten play.

Nate Oats: ‘Most teams in the country didn’t set the standard as high as we set them’

Alabama has become a formidable contender under Nate Oats since he took over the program ahead of the 2019 season. Even though he’s brought the Crimson Tide to consecutive Elite Eight performances, it’s evident the bar is much, much higher than that for his program.

Following Alabama’s loss to the No. 1 seed in their region in Duke, Oats was reflective on the past three years for the Crimson Tide. They’ve made the Sweet 16 three times, the Elite Eight twice and the Final Four once. Still, the disappointment rang true. That’s because the expectations Alabama sets on itself are greater than most other teams, according to Oats.

“I don’t know if there’s been a better run in three-year history at Alabama. No. 1 overall seed, make a Final Four, and then make back-to-back Elite Eights. While it was disappointing for the standards we’ve set, most teams in the country didn’t set the standards as high as we set them,” Oats stated, via his postgame press conference. There was four teams go to the Final Four last year. We were the only one that was in the Elite Eight. The other three either didn’t make the tournament, were bounced before the Sweet 16, or Purdue, who lost in the Sweet 16.

“With the standard of excellence we’ve set across all of college basketball, we’ve established ourselves as one of the best programs in the country. Are we disappointed tonight? For sure we are, but we’ve put ourselves up there with everybody else. We’re going to continue to do that year-in and year-out and keep knocking on the door. Keep pounding the stone, if you will. Be one of the teams competing for a Final Four and a National Championship and conference championships in the best conference in college basketball every year. We’ll get back to the Final Four and win one here soon.”

— On3’s Steve Samra contributed to this report.