Alabama men's basketball team arrives in Phoenix for Final Four
The University of Alabama men’s basketball team made it safely to Phoenix, as the Crimson Tide arrived Tuesday night and is the first team to land at the site of the 2024 NCAA Final Four. This year’s men’s basketball national semifinals and championship game is set to take place April 6 and 8 inside State Farm Stadium.
The Crimson Tide travel party was treated to some excitement before departing Tuscaloosa Regional Airport as the staff and players were greeted by hundreds of fans, as well as Big Al, UA cheer and band. Once the Tide boarded the plane, the flight took approximately three-and-a-half hours.
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Once the travel party de-planed, a trio of buses, led by a police escort, took the team to its hotel in downtown Phoenix.
The No. 4 seed Crimson Tide will take on the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed UConn Saturday night in the second semifinal which is slated to tipoff Saturday night at approximately 5:49 p.m. PT (7:49 p.m. CT) and will be televised on TBS.
NCAA Final Four Notes
- This marks Alabama’s first-ever NCAA Men’s Final Four, as the Crimson Tide is the only team among this year’s group (UConn, Purdue, NC State) that is making its first appearance in program history
- Alabama has reached three Sweet 16s (2021, 2023, 2024) across the last four years
- The Tide made the program’s second Elite Eight appearance in 2024, joining the 2004 squad as the only teams to achieve the feat
- Head coach Nate Oats has a record of 8-3 (.727) across the four NCAA Tournaments appearances at the helm of the Alabama program (2021-24)
- Alabama is appearing in its fourth-straight NCAA Tournament in 2024, marking the first time that’s happened since 2002-06
- It is the first time in program history the Crimson Tide has earned back-to-back seasons as a No. 4 seed or better in the NCAA Tournament (No. 1 seed in 2023)
- Oats has guided his teams to NCAA Tournament appearances in seven of the eight years the event was held during his coaching career, including each year as the Tide’s head coach
*** This information was acquired from a recent press release from Alabama Athletics.
Photos from Alabama’s sendoff
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