Alabama Basketball: Tide gets NCAA opponent and other hoops news

On Tuesday night, some Dayton, OH sorting out gave Alabama Basketball an opponent to open the NCAA Tournament against. It is the Texas A&M – Corpus Christi Islanders. A quick shorthand to be used here is TAMU-CC. I hope the Islanders enjoy their trip to Birmingham. They will not enjoy the game.

As a couple of credible sources tweeted, TAMU-CC is a team that averages 6’3″. The Islanders have some size and a couple of fast, small guys that can push the pace. Their tempo, while far from sizzling, is their strongest attribute. They are also outstanding at the foul line, but there will be little reason for Alabama to foul them. If the Islanders can keep the losing margin under 20, their fans should not be disappointed.

Birmingham’s Legacy Arena was in the news on Tuesday. Hosting the NCAA Tournament again is a big deal; not just for Birmingham, but for the rest of the state as well. The old BJCC was the site of many NCAA Tournament games. But the last one was in 2008, as newer arenas across the south supplanted an outdated BJCC. A $123M renovation and expansion gave what is a good basketball market, an appropriate site.

Having both Alabama Basketball and Auburn playing in Birmingham brings the potential for some added drama. While the teams are in different NCAA Tournament regions and will not play each other, the fanbases of both schools could fill Legacy Arena on Saturday. On Thursday, they will be in separate sessions. Alabama Basketball plays in the early session and the crowd is expected to be heavily Crimson.

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It doesn’t matter how many Aubies show up to root for the Tide’s opponents. The ‘real’ drama will come from the tournament’s overall No. 1 seed, showing its class.

Treat for Alabama basketball fans

Alabama basketball fans can enjoy a special treat Wednesday afternoon.

Other College Basketball News

Oke Miss has finalized hiring Chris Beard as its next basketball, head coach. Beard was fired by Texas earlier this season, after what was reported as a domestic violence situation. The tweet below includes a copy of the police report.

Beard’s fiance was the alleged victim in the report. She later recanted her initial story and whatever Beard did (or did not do), the complaint against him went away. Ole Miss is taking considerable heat from hiring Beard.

In other college basketball news, McNeese State announced the hiring of Will ‘strong-ass offer’ Wade as its head coach. The school then immediately suspended Wade for the first five games next season. The suspension is an effort to minimize future, additional NCAA penalties yet to be levied against Wade.

Wade and McNeese quickly added two transfer players for next season. The school clearly does not mind a black eye.

It can be said the SEC was not made better by the hiring of Chris Beard. What can be said with more assurance is the SEC was made much better when LSU belatedly fired Wade. Some SEC fans will now root for McNeese to lose every game.

Charles Barkley has picked the Crimson Tide to win it all. According to a tweet, true to form for a Bama-hater, Tim Brando picked the Tide as the first 1-seed to lose.