Why Alabama Basketball Doesn't Mind Underdog Role against UConn

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — With how the team played over the final month of the regular season, it was understandable why many people weren't very high on Alabama heading into the NCAA Tournament. The Crimson Tide had lost four of its last six games and had been atrocious on defense, allowing 96.8 points per game during that stretch.

ESPN College GameDay host and Alabama alum Rece Davis picked the Crimson Tide to lose its first game to College of Charleston. The general opinion among commenters on the BamaCentral social media channels forecasted that Alabama wouldn't make it out of the first weekend.

Yet, two weekends later, the Crimson Tide is rolling in the Final Four for the first time in program history.

"I think we’ve been underdogs a lot of the year and people really doubted us, especially going into March Madness," Alabama forward Grant Nelson said. "It kind of gives us extra motivation to go out there and try to prove people wrong. It just gives us motivation, gives us another thing to work for."

One year after being the No. 1 overall seed itself and losing in heartbreaking fashion to San Diego State in the Sweet 16, the Crimson Tide has played a new role in the 2024 NCAA Tournament: the underdog and overlooked.

Alabama head coach Nate Oats has had no shortage of motivation to show his team before each of its games in the NCAA Tournament. Now, the Crimson Tide is facing its toughest task yet going up against the No. 1 overall seed and defending national champions UConn.

The Huskies haven't just been winning recently, but they've been doing it in dominant fashion. Their average margin of victory through their first four games of the NCAA is 27.8 points. In their Elite Eight matchup against 3-seed Illinois, the Huskies went on an unprecedented 30-0 run. The last time a UConn game was decided by single digits was on March 15 against St. John's in the semifinals of the Big East Tournament. The Huskies still won the game, 95-90.

Connecticut opened as an 11.5-point favorite, which is one of the largest spreads in Final Four history. This provides another opportunity for Oats and his team to lean into the underdog role.

"We’ll definitely use that,” Oats said before the team left for Phoenix on Tuesday. “All the slights that everybody had going into the other games, our players took note. … I’m sure our players will see that and use it.”

Alabama guard Rylan Griffen said he isn't worried about the spread or projected numbers.

"We've just got to go out and play the game," Griffen said.

This year's squad has already knocked off one 1-seed, beating No. 1 North Carolina in the Sweet 16 last Thursday in Los Angeles. Alabama was the betting favorite in its wins against Charleston, Grand Canyon and Clemson, but each time, the trendy pick was to go against the Tide. And now facing the defending national championships, Connecticut is the consensus pick to win the game and by a large margin.

"Nobody’s gonna pick us to win,” Oats said. “We’re kind of playing with house money a little bit, if you will. We weren’t supposed to beat Clemson. We weren’t supposed to beat North Carolina. A lot of people were picking against us against Grand Canyon. 

"We’re not gonna be picked to win, I know that, but sometimes the best team, the one that’s picked, doesn’t always win. We were the underdog against Carolina, not as big as we are now, but we figured out a way to win. I don’t think our guys are gonna relax to the point where they’re not gonna play hard and be ready to play. We played hard these last four games."

Not only has Alabama already beaten a 1-seed in the tournament, but the Crimson Tide played a schedule throughout the regular season that has prepared them for this moment. Alabama had already played five of the teams in the Sweet 16 (Clemson, Arizona, Purdue, Tennessee and Creighton.) While this will be a bigger stage than anyone on this team has played on before being at the Final Four, the quality of opponent won't be anything new for the Crimson Tide.

"It's not gonna be a ton of pressure on us," Oats said. "Like, we've made the school's first Final Four. We're going to enjoy the fact that we're there, that there's only four teams left playing. The entire basketball world is watching... You're there. We're gonna try to win. Every game we play, we try to win it.

"Our guys are going to play hard. They're gonna give it what they got, and we're going to try to win the game. I don't know that there's going to be a relaxation, but we shouldn't be playing nervous. We should be playing free, hard, max effort, but with some confidence knowing that we got here, but also [with] a little bit of freedom."