Duke vs. Alabama: Officiating crew revealed for Elite 8 matchup

As Duke and Alabama get ready to square off in the Elite 8, the officiating crew has been revealed. The trio of Roger Ayers, Terry Oglesby and Greg Nixon are the referees for the matchup.

It’s a different crew than either team saw in the Sweet Sixteen. Duke had Keith Kimble, Lee Cassell and Michael Greenstein for its victory over Arizona. Alabama had Tony Padilla, Bert Smith and Jeb Hartness against BYU.

Alabama and Duke will serve as the nightcap for Saturday’s slate of Elite Eight games. The winner will advance to San Antonio as the second team to clinch a spot in the 2025 NCAA Tournament Final Four.

Duke vs. Alabama is shaping up to be an intriguing battle because of each team’s strengths. The Blue Devils have the fifth-most efficient defense in the country, according to KenPom, while the Crimson Tide offense sits as the fourth-most efficient offense – fresh off a historic three-point shooting performance against BYU.

Of course, Duke has the virtual consensus No. 1 player in this year’s NBA Draft in Cooper Flagg. The superstar freshman leads the Blue Devils in every major statistical category with 19 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.3 blocks per game.

Nate Oats knows his team will have its hand full guarding Flagg, as well as Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach, among other playmakers. That’s why he said it’s going to take a strong matchup between star forwards if the Crimson Tide want to contain Flagg, and Alabama has the athleticism to do just that.

“He’s essentially their four man, but he plays like a two guard, so you can’t put traditional fours on him,” Oats said during an appearance on College GameDay on Saturday. “But I think we’ve got fours — Grant Nelson moves fairly well. [Mouhamed] Diabate moves really well. Jarin Stevenson is 6 foot 10, but he’s guarded guys like RJ Davis and Josh Hubbard. … We’ve got different options. We’re gonna switch up our pick and roll. He’s good, but what we can’t have him doing is going for 30 and also getting seven or eight assists and picking up a bunch of fouls and offensive rebounds.

“You’re gonna have to somehow limit him in that regard. But we can’t have him getting out in transition on us either, because I think he’s really lethal when he gets out [on the break] off of turnovers and missed shots.”