Alabama Crimson Tide news and notes from the weekend:
Nate Oats signs long-term contract extension with Alabama basketball
Greg Byrne hinted at it over a week ago, but on Sunday, Nate Oats officially signed his contract extension with Alabama basketball. According to reports, the contract makes Oats one of the five highest-paid coaches in college basketball.
While details weren't immediately released outside of that, it signals a significant investment made by Byrne and the University of Alabama in Oats, who has led the program to unprecedented success on the hardwood in his seven seasons. That includes four consecutive trips to the Sweet 16 (and five overall), SEC regular season and tournament titles in both 2021 and 2023, and the program's first Final Four in 2024.
Oats wants to lead Alabama to its first basketball national title, and this latest contract extension signals that he's going to be given the resources in order to do so.
Alabama softball earns series win over No. 1 Texas
Patrick Murphy's Alabama softball team stated its case as a national championship contender over the weekend by earning a series win over No. 1-ranked Texas in Tuscaloosa.
Shaking off a 9-1 series-opening loss on Thursday, the Crimson Tide rallied from a 4-0 deficit on Friday to score 11 unanswered runs on the way to an 11-4 win to tie the series.
In Saturday's rubber-match, Alabama got the better of Texas with a 7-4 win thanks to Jocelyn Briski's performance in relief, and a 3-run homer by Jena Young in the 2nd inning.
It has been clear for a while that this is the best team Murphy has fielded in a few years. But now, any lingering questions about this team as a legitimate contender have been answered. They are good enough to go all the way.
Alabama baseball wins road series over No. 11 Oklahoma
Not to be outdone, Rob Vaughn and the baseball team earned a pivotal series win themselves over the weekend in Norman.
While the Crimson Tide's nine-game winning streak was ultimately snapped by losing on Friday's second game of the series, that loss was sandwiched around wins on Thursday and Saturday as Alabama won its third consecutive SEC series to surge up the standings and into 3rd place in the league by itself.
The bats were hot on Thursday with the Tide putting up 10 runs in the first two innings of the series and holding on to a 10-7 win. On Saturday, during the rubber-match, it was the bullpen that came up huge as Ashton Crowther, Matthew Heiberger, and Hagan Banks picking up Myles Upchurch and holding on for a 3-2 win.
Alabama gymnastics season ends in Regional Final
The Alabama gym season ended in somewhat disappointing fashion as the No. 5 Crimson Tide failed to reach Nationals.
In the Corvallis Regional Final, Alabama finished fourth out of four teams competing. No. 5 UCLA won the Regional with No. 13 Minnesota finishing second and earning the other bid to Nationals along with the Bruins. No. 12 Utah finished in third, with Alabama rounding out the Regional in fourth.