Nate Oats references Tennessee while making excuse for why Alabama didn't advance further in the NCAA Tournament
The Alabama Crimson Tide saw their 2024-25 season come to an end this past weekend via a blowout 20 point loss to the Duke Blue Devils in the Elite Eight. After the 85-65 loss to Duke, Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats suggested to reporters that Alabama would've had a better chance to advance in […]
The Alabama Crimson Tide saw their 2024-25 season come to an end this past weekend via a blowout 20 point loss to the Duke Blue Devils in the Elite Eight.
After the 85-65 loss to Duke, Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats suggested to reporters that Alabama would've had a better chance to advance in the NCAA Tournament had the program earned a No. 1 seed (Alabama was a No. 2 seed in the tourney).
Oats mentioned Alabama's loss to Tennessee at the buzzer in early March as one of the main reasons that the Crimson Tide weren't a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The sixth year Alabama head coach also referenced his brutal end-of-game coaching decisions against Tennessee as a reason why the Crimson Tide dropped that game to the Volunteers.
“I didn’t do a good job with our end-of-game situation at Tennessee," said Oats after the loss to Duke. "We win that, maybe things are different. We lost the two to Florida. If you’re a No. 1 seed instead of a No. 2 seed, you don’t play Duke. Duke is going to be a No. 1 seed. You’ve got somebody else in the Elite Eight. So, you kind of look to some stuff, could you have done things better? We lost a home game to Ole Miss. They’re a good team, but we should never have lost a home game to Ole Miss.
“Even if you win the home game against Ole Miss, [if] I don’t mess up the end of the game against Tennessee, maybe you’re still a No. 1 seed, even with those two losses to Florida, and you’re playing somebody else in the Elite Eight. So, there’s a lot of things you can look to that. I’ve got to do a better job as a head coach. And I will do a better job moving forward. We’ve got to keep continuing to recruit guys that fit our system and adapt when things happen, and do better in the regular season and give yourself a better chance with a better seed."
"We got to do a better job during the regular season," added Oats. "Try to make sure we get that No. 1 seed. It’s a little easier to make it as that No. 1 seed.”
I've always been of the opinion that seeding is a bit overrated. Sure, it's an honor to be a No. 1 seed, and the road to the championship is a little easier on paper, but to win it all, you have to go out and beat the best teams. It doesn't matter if you play Duke in the second round or in the national championship game, you have to beat them at some point to be the last team standing (or beat the team that beats Duke, or whoever is viewed as the biggest giant remaining).
And really, there's no such thing as an easy path in the NCAA Tournament. How many times have seen teams with favorable matchups lose to that year's "cinderella"?
There are no excuses when you lose in the NCAA Tournament. You were either good enough that year or you weren't. And Alabama, quite simply, just wasn't good enough this season.
