Everything you need to know about Robert Morris, Alabama's 1st Round March Madness opponent

March Madness is here, and for the fifth straight season Alabama basketball is in the NCAA Tournament. Simply making the tournament was not a goal for this Crimson Tide team that entered the season as one of the preseason favorites to win the whole thing, but it still deserves acknowledgement. When Oats arrived in 2019, Alabama had just two NCAA Tournament berths in the previous 12 seasons.

It's that kind of perspective that should be remembered when any Alabama fan has the urge to call a 25-8 season that resulted in a 2-seed in March Madness a disappointment. Oats might be keen to remember that, too, as he certainly doesn't do himself or his team any favors with how he has labeled expectations heading into the tournament:

Considering Alabama would likely have to get through KenPom No. 1 Duke in the Elite Eight to make a second straight Final Four, no, losing short of the Final Four would not be a disappointment in the sense that he means. It is always disappointing to lose, but March Madness is all about matchups and variance and even elite teams have suffered stunning upsets in a one-game elimination setting.

Before Alabama can worry about a deep run, they have to win a single game first. As a 2-seed in the East Region, the Crimson Tide will open the NCAA Tournament on Friday against 15-seeded Robert Morris. The Colonials are 26-8 overall and the champions of the Horizon League. They're currently on a 10-game winning streak heading into the Big Dance.

Here's everything you need to know about Alabama's 1st round opponent:

Players to know for Robert Morris

This is Andrew Toole's 15th season at Robert Morris and this is likely his best team. He's only taken one previous team to the tournament and that was back in 2015.

Toole prefers to run an eight-man rotation and that could be problematic for a team that is going to be forced to play at a much-advanced pace.

The Colonials' leading scorer is graduate senior Kam Woods, a shot-chucker extraordinaire. Woods averages 15.1 points per game and takes over 14 shots each night to get there. He's been extremely inefficient, shooting 38% from the floor and 29% from three. He also only shoots 61% from the free throw line.

He's capable of getting hot, though, and figures to have a little extra juice for this matchup. Woods is a Bessemer, AL native and will relish the opportunity to play what could be his final collegiate basketball game against a home-state school. Jones has been nomadic in his career, with Robert Morris being the 4th D1 school he's played for. He had a stop at JUCO to boot, too.

Robert Morris' best player is sophomore forward Alvaro Folgueiras from Spain. He was the Horizon League's Player of the Year, averaging 14 points and 9 rebounds per night. He had 13 double-doubles on the season and could provide some matchup problems for an Alabama team that could be without starting forward Grant Nelson.

Folgueiras is a true inside-out scorer. He shot 66% at the rim and connected on 42.7% of his threes on 103 attempts. He allows Robert Morris to stretch the floor well as they play small usually with four guards and Folgueiras playing the five. That should make them susceptible to Cliff Omoruyi on the interior.

Senior wing Amarion Dickerson was the conference's Defensive Player of the Year, and pound-for-pound might be the best shot blocker in the country. He's listed as a guard, though he is 6-foot-7, and blocks 2.4 shots per game.

Dickerson averages 12.9 points per game and does a lot of damage in the paint. He's only a 29% three-point shooter, but he shot 71% this year at the rim. Keeping him out of the paint will be a chore. He'll likely see a lot of Mo Dioubate and Jarin Stevenson. A healthy Derrion Reid would be a good matchup here for the Crimson Tide, too.

Juniors Josh Omojafo and DJ Smith along with sophomore Ryan Prather Jr. are the floor spacing guards who are knockdown shooters. All three shoot 38% or better from deep with Smith leading the way at 40% on 137 attempts.

Their No. 1 most used lineup is Smith, Woods, Omojafo, Dickerson, and Folgueiras. Along with the guys listed above, senior Ismael Plet will get minutes at the four and five. He's not a threat from three, but he's an effective offensive rebounder and will help Robert Morris earn extra possessions.

The eighth spot in the rotation likely comes down to the health of freshman Dilen Miller, who missed the Horizon League Tournament. If he can't go, senior Chris Ford takes the spot.

Stats to know

Robert Morris is an elite offensive rebounding team, which might come as a bit of a surprise considering they don't have a player in the rotation taller than 6-foot-9. They relentlessly attack the glass and their guards are all really good rebounders. They rebound a little over than 35% of their misses, a mark that ranks 33rd in the country.

The Colonials attack the basket. They have capable shooters but, like Alabama, their offense is predicated on dribble-drives and kick out threes if the paint is clogged up. They rank 41st in the country in free throw rate.

The big problem they've had offensively is turning the ball over too much. Even at a lowered pace, Robert Morris turns it over on 18.5% of their possessions. Alabama will try to speed the game up (Alabama is 1st in Tempo, Robert Morris is 141), and that could lead to more Colonials' turnovers. If Alabama can force turnovers and get out in transition, this game probably gets ugly.

Defensively, Robert Morris doesn't do well defending the three-point line. They rank 205th in three-point percentage allowed. With their lack of size on the interior, Alabama guards Mark Sears and Labaron Philon should be able to get into the paint and kick out to open shooters all afternoon long.

This feels like the type of game that both Philon and Sears should thrive in. Omoruyi should be able to dominate the paint and if he gives high-end effort he should be able to get on the offensive glass and control the game that way.

Schedule to Know

Robert Morris is on a 10 game winning streak, but the Horizon isn't exactly a power conference. They rank 19th out of 31 leagues, per KenPom. The Colonials played one team all season against an opponent ranked inside the KenPom Top 100 and that was the season opener on the road against West Virginia. The Mountaineers won by 28.

Alabama will be far and away the best team Robert Morris has played all season long. Conversely, Alabama hasn't played a team ranked as low as Robert Morris since their final game of non-conference play against South Dakota State.

All that is to say, there's a reason Alabama is favored by 22.5 points. Upsets are always possible in March, but even if Grant Nelson is unable to go in the first round, it's hard to see one happening here barring one of the worst overall performances of the Oats era from the Crimson Tide.