Nate Oats: This year's Alabama squad 'really pulled themselves together at the right time'

Last season, Alabama was a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Finishing in the Sweet 16 during his first season with the program, all signs pointed to the 2022-23 team being the first ever Crimson Tide squad to make a Final Four.

Unfortunately for the Tide, they ran into San Diego State as the Aztecs made their way to their own Final Four run. For the second season, Alabama saw their season end in the second weekend once again.

Nine players left Nate Oats’ squad from that top-seeded squad, returning just three players including one starter from last year’s Alabama team. After he rebuilt the roster with transfers and a top-15 recruiting class, they were eventually picked to finish fifth in the SEC preseason poll and ranked No. 24 nationally to begin the season.

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The same team that would end up making program history on Saturday night, defeating Clemson 89-82 in the Elite 8.

“Some programs and coaches do it with one group of guys. I think we’ve done it now with three totally different groups of guys, without a lot of carryover,” Oats told ESPN College GameDay’s Rece Davis on Sunday. “We haven’t gotten to the Final Four, but maybe this is the team out of the three that have made Sweet 16 runs, maybe the one least likely to make a Final Four run, but it’s not necessarily the best team all the time.

“It’s who puts together the best run in the tournament. So, this group of guys has really pulled themselves together at the right time.”

The Tide have been hot all tournament. While they came up short in the SEC Tournament, Oats’ squad has put up two double-digit wins and have downed one of the tournament’s top four seeds in North Carolina, 89-87. Alabama followed that up with another 89-point scoring performance against the Tigers that saw senior guard Mark Sears — the lone returning starter from last year’s squad — score a game-high 23 points thanks to seven-made 3-point baskets.

Alabama’s toughest task of the season now looms — a date with reigning national champions UConn in the Final Four. The Huskies are the hottest team left in the field after dominating Illinois in the second half Saturday, going on what Oats called an “unheard of” 30-0 run in the Elite 8. Early betting lines have the Crimson Tide as 11.5-point underdogs, per FanDuel Sportsbook.