Nate Oats downplays Alabama's recent struggles in Birmingham

In the NCAA tournament, there are teams that find themselves receiving a bit of a homecourt advantage thanks to what city is hosting what portion of the tournament. This year the top seed in the South bracket, Alabama, gets a huge advantage in the opening rounds as they will play their opening round games in Birmingham, AL. 

The Crimson Tide will start this year’s tournament playing in their state capital. But given the results of their last two games playing in Birmingham, maybe it is not an advantage to the team after all. Whether it is or isn’t is not the concern of Alabama head coach Nate Oats. As he discussed his thought on playing in Birmingham, he also explained what went wrong in the Crimson Tides last two games there.

“Yeah, I don’t know that it’s Birmingham,” said Oats. “I’m going to be honest with you; Davidson is not a team you want to prep for on a one-day prep. That was COVID. Colorado State was supposed to be the opponent. We had to scramble and find somebody. Davidson did us a favor and came to play cause we needed to play that game. And that’s definitely not a team I would ever choose to play on a one-day prep.

“Gonzaga is a really good team. I mean, they’re one of the best offensive teams; maybe number one in the country (in) offense efficiency. We just didn’t bring it on the defensive end that day. So, I don’t want to make too much of the fact both those games are in Birmingham. I don’t think that had anything to do with it. We gotta bring our defensive intensity. If we do, we’ll be alright.”

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In 2021, Davidson replaced Colorado State and took on Alabama at the Legacy Arena at BJCC in Birmingham due to a COVID outbreak for the Rams. And the Wildcats made the best of that unexpected trip. Davidson would knock off the then No. 10 ranked Crimson Tide. This season Alabama faced Gonzaga in a matchup of top-25 teams and failed to slow down the Bulldogs’ offense. Gonzaga would take control of the game made way through the first half, and never relinquished the lead on their way to a 100-90 victory.

Regardless of what happened against those two teams, the Crimson Tide has an opportunity to rewrite their history when playing in their state capital. Their first chance will be when they take on the winner of Texas A&M Corpus Christi and Southeast Missouri. And if they’re victorious in that game, they will go on to face the winner of the 8-9 matchup between Maryland and West Virginia.