Alabama basketball to face Liberty in Birmingham's CM Newton Classic
Alabama’s CM Newton Classic matchup is now set. The Crimson Tide men’s basketball team will play the Liberty Flames in Birmingham on Saturday, Dec. 30, it was announced Tuesday.
This season’s matchup will mark the third between Alabama and Liberty with the Crimson Tide owning a 2-0 record in the all-time series. The two teams played this past year in Tuscaloosa, which resulted in a 95-59 win for Alabama. The first meeting also took place within the state of Alabama in Huntsville on Dec. 18, 2018, and UA won that game by a score of 84-75.
During the 2022-23 campaign, the Flames posted a 27-9 record, which included a 15-3 mark in conference play. Liberty was 19-1 on its home court but 6-7 when playing away from Lynchburg, Va., and 2-1 on neutral floors. The Flames lost to No. 1-seed Kennesaw State in the ASUN Tournament, missing out on the NCAA Tournament, and fell to Wisconsin in the NIT.
Alabama played in Birmingham’s Legacy Arena a total of three times this past season, losing to Gonzaga in the CM Newton Classic and defeating Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Maryland in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. The Crimson Tide is making its 76th appearance in the Magic City and owns an all-time record of 49-26 when playing in Birmingham.
“We are thrilled to once again have the opportunity to play in Birmingham,” said Alabama head coach Nate Oats in a release. “After playing in the 2022 C.M. Newton Classic and the first and second rounds of March Madness in Birmingham, we have seen first-hand the overwhelming support from our fans at Legacy Arena. We are looking forward to playing a strong Liberty team this year. To be able to have this great program come to Birmingham to play us is exciting for the team and our fans.
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“In addition to great basketball, the C.M. Newton Classic honors Coach Newton’s legacy with the program and college basketball throughout his career. We can’t wait to play in front of an energized crowd in Legacy Arena.”
In addition to the CM Newton Classic, the Tide is set to play Purdue in Toronto, face Arizona in Phoenix, travel to Omaha to take on Creighton, face Ohio State and either Oregon or Santa Clara in the Emerald Coast Classic and play host to Clemson, Morehead State, Indiana State, South Alabama and Mercer, making for yet another difficult non-conference schedule.
ALABAMA NON-CONFERENCE GAMES WITH KNOWN DATES
Nov. 6 – Morehead State
Nov. 10 – Indiana State
Nov. 14 – South Alabama
Nov. 17 – Mercer
Nov. 24 – Ohio State in Destin
Nov. 25 – Oregon or Santa Clara in Destin
Nov. 28 – Clemson
Dec. 9 – Purdue in Toronto
Dec. 16 – at Creighton
Dec. 20 – Arizona in Phoenix
Dec. 30 – Liberty in Birmingham
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