Not long after the Alabama Basketball 2024-25 season ended, Nate Oats reflected on the possible downside of having college basketball's No. 1 Strength of Schedule (SOS). Based on the metric calculated by the NCAA NET, Alabama's schedule was difficult in almost historic proportions.
Not only did the Crimson Tide play the ninth-hardest non-conference schedule in the regular season, Alabama played 16 SEC regular season games against 13 NCAA Tournament teams. Oats has always practiced the sports interpretation of iron sharpening iron. He and his players relish the opportunity to be be strongly challenged. When Oats discussed the schedule difficulty a few weeks ago he admitted when Alabama began SEC regular season play it "might have" been worn down by its non-conference schedule. The comment indicated a possible lightening of the Crimson Tide's schedule load. If Oats does change his scheduling philosophy, it will not happen in the 2025-26 season.
Jon Rothstein reported that the newest addition to Alabama's 2025-26 schedule will be the Yale Bulldogs in Tuscaloosa. Yale was 22-8 last season, losing to Texas A&M 80-71 in the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs have had modest Big Dance success, making the field five times, all in their last nine seasons. Alabama basketball fans have a fondness for Yale since the Bulldogs got their second-ever NCAA Tournament win by beating Auburn in the 2024 tournament.
Using Ken Pomeroy's final 2024-25 rankings, Yale was college basketball's No. 74 team last season. No SEC team was ranked so low, but at No. 74, Yale was ranked higher than 10 ACC teams, six Big 12 teams, and two Big Ten teams.
Plenty Tough Alabama Basketball 2025-26 Schedule
Yale is a credible opponent but the Crimson Tide will face much stiffer opposition. Alabama will play Purdue in Tuscaloosa on Nov. 13. The C.M. Newton Classic in Birmingham will pit the Crimson Tide against Arizona. In Chicago, Alabama will take on Illinois. There is a good chance that Alabama's opponent in the SEC vs. ACC challenge will be North Carolina or Duke. There is also the expanded Players Era Tournament in Las Vegas. Alabama will get three games in Las Vegas and among the 17 other teams that have been announced are 10 teams ranked in the top 35 of Pomeroy's final rankings.
Maybe Alabama's SEC schedule will prove to be less brutal than last season. Even if it is, Alabama Basketball will have another season to become battle-tested, with the risk of also becoming battle-scarred.