Alabama Basketball: It’s Time For March Madness, Crimson Tide Style
By Ronald Evans
March Madness begins for Alabama Basketball at the SEC Tournament on Thursday.
March Madness begins on Thursday for Alabama basketball. March Madness starts earlier for the Tide than some schools. First is the annual doubt as to the duration of any season’s Crimson Tide March Madness.
Since 2004, March Madness for Alabama basketball has not continued past March 18th – unless you count the NIT – and the NIT has not counted for much of anything since the NCAA Tournament field expanded to 48 teams in 1980.
In any decade there are 25-30 men’s basketball, upper echelon teams that consistently make the NCAA Tournament field. These teams agonize over their NCAA tourney seeding but otherwise, their conference tournament games have reduced importance. For the upper echelon teams, March Madness begins with their first game in the Big Dance.
Alabama basketball has never fully reached upper echelon status. The closest the Tide ever got was the Wimp Sanderson seasons, 1985-1992.
Alabama Crimson Tide Basketball
In those eight seasons, Alabama basketball made the NCAA Tournament field seven times. Five of the eight seasons the Tide made it to the Sweet Sixteen. One five-year span inside those eight seasons Alabama basketball won the SEC Tournament four times.
Mark Gottfried led Alabama basketball to the Elite Eight in 2004, during a five-year run of NCAA Tournament appearances. In two of those five NCAA seasons, Alabama barely qualified for the Big Dance.
Alabama basketball’s arguably best team was coached by C. M. Newton in 1976. That Tide team lost a close game to 1976 National Champion, Indiana. The NCAA field was only 32 teams in 1976, so the Tide made to the Sweet 16, after destroying a very good North Carolina team 79-64 in the first round.
How good was the Tide in 1976? Indiana won the National Championship with a season record of 32-0. After the 1976 tournament, Coach Knight told a reporter to tell C.M that Alabama was the best team the Hoosiers played all season.
Looking back at those glory years of Crimson Tide basketball, Alabama was sometimes very good, two, or maybe three times, nearly great. But never was Alabama a member of college basketball’s upper echelon.
So bring on March Madness – Alabama style. Alabama opens with Mississippi State at approximately 2:30 PM CST on Thursday.
Alabama ranks second in the SEC with an all-time SEC Tournament record of 62-50. The Crimson Tide has won the tournament five times since the tournament renewal in 1979.
Click on the link below for the 2017 SEC Basketball Tournament Bracket:
Next: Take a Look at New Tide Players for 2017-18
Earlier this week, Crimson Tide freshman Braxton Key was named to the SEC All-Freshman team. Alabama basketball fans can agree the future is bright for Alabama basketball. Connect with us on Facebook and tell us how long you think Crimson Tide March Madness will last this season.