Alabama students chanted "NIT" and "Cal to Texas" as Tide rolled over Kentucky

It is one thing to lose to a Top 10 team like No. 7 Alabama on the road; it is quite another to lose by 26 points while the opposing team’s fans are chanting insults. In the second half, Alabama’s student section rubbed salt into Kentucky’s wounds by chanting “NIT” and “Cal to Texas,” the latter a reference to the new job opening in Austin. The chants were loud enough to come through clearly on television, and based on social media, resounded with a frustrated Big Blue Nation.

After the game, Alabama coach Nate Oats was asked about the chants. He chalked Kentucky’s performance up to poor shooting and said he still believes the Cats will make the tournament.

“Kentucky’s not going to the NIT. They’re going to be an NCAA Tournament team. It’s college students being college students. They’ve got plenty of talent over there. Cal’s done a good job assembling some talent. They’ve got really good players, they just didn’t shoot the ball well tonight. They shot 29%. When you shoot 29%, it’s hard to win games. Obviously, some of that was due to our defense, but they did just miss some shots too.

“Like I said before, I’m hoping they bounce back and play really well because it will help us moving forward. We only got them once this year so I hope they’re contending for the championship at the end and we’ve got the tiebreaker. They’ll get their stuff figured out. This isn’t the first time they’ve lost a game and figured it out and came back.”

That is entirely true, but those chants hit pretty close to home right now. Nate Oats may believe Kentucky is an NCAA Tournament team, but their resume looks bubble-worthy at best right now. Today’s loss brings Kentucky’s Quad 1 record to 0-4. The Cats are 1-1 in Quad 2, 3-0 and Quad 3, and 6-0 in Quad 4. With eight more Quad 1 opportunities remaining and less than two months remaining in the regular season, something’s gotta change, and fast.