During Sunday’s selection show, Alabama was selected as the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and the top seed in the South bracket, its third straight trip to the NCAA Tournament and the first time in program history the Crimson Tide has been selected as a No. 1 seed.
“We’re excited to be the No. 1 overall seed,” Alabama head coach Nate Oats said. “Our players have worked hard, accomplished a lot this year. I couldn’t be more proud of them, what they’ve been able to do. It’s nice they got rewarded with it.”
Thursday, Alabama will face the winner of Tuesday's No. 16 seed play-in game between Texas A&M Corpus Christi and Southeastern Missouri State. If the Crimson Tide are able to make it past their first game, they will play the winner of the No. 8 seed Maryland and No. 9 seed West Virginia on Saturday. Tip off time is set for Thursday at 1:45 p.m. on CBS, and Alabama will have a bit of a home-court advantage as Alabama’s first two games will be played in Birmingham’s Legacy Arena, a big reward for being a No. 1 seed.
“It's going to be great to play in Birmingham,” Oats said. “We need to get that place packed full of Alabama fans. That’s part of the rewards of having a great regular season, you get to play what should be essentially a home game in Birmingham for the first two rounds. So let’s make sure we pump that up, let’s get that arena filled with Alabama fans."
If Alabama is fortunate enough to make it past its first two opponents in the tournament, it would have to travel to Louisville, Kentucky, for the site of the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight. The Final Four of the NCAA Tournament this year will be held in Houston, Texas.
This year's selection will be Alabama’s 23rd overall appearance in the NCAA Tournament and second appearance under coach Nate Oats. Oats led the Crimson Tide to the Sweet 16 in 2021 before a disappointing first round exit last year, bringing Alabama’s NCAA Tournament record under Oats to an even 2-2.
An Elite Eight appearance in 2004 as a No. 8 seed is Alabama’s deepest run in the NCAA Tournament. That year, the Tide lost to the eventual national champion that year, Connecticut.
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