When Nate Oats arrived in Tuscaloosa in 2019, he brought a fast-paced, analytically driven offense that, within two years, vaulted the Crimson Tide into SEC contention. He also brought toughness and a blue-collar mentality, but those aspects haven’t always been displayed as prominently, especially against the Tennessee Volunteers.
Rick Barnes is all toughness and grit, which could be why he’s given Oats so many problems over the last seven seasons. Since Oats arrived at Alabama, he is 3-6 against Tennessee, and that’s after getting off to a 3-1 start to the series. Alabama has not beaten Tennessee in men’s basketball since December 29, 2021, and judging from his postgame comments after Saturday’s 79-73 defeat in Tuscaloosa, he seems to know why.
Nate Oats on a 5th straight loss to UT: "Not good ... I've got a lot of respect for coach Barnes. He's one of the best to do it in the last 20, 30 years in college basketball. ... We've been one of the better teams in the league the last few years but for whatever reason we've…
— Chase Goodbread (@ChaseGoodbread) January 25, 2026
Alabama must match Tennessee’s toughness to win the SEC
Rick Barnes and Tennessee aren’t exactly a barometer of what it takes to win in March. Barnes’s teams notoriously fall short in the NCAA Tournament, while Oats has made four Sweet 16s, two Elite Eights, and one Final Four. So, it’s not exactly the case that Alabama has to match Tennessee’s play style to have a long stay in the tournament or win a national championship, but it is meaningful to match the physicality of a conference rival when you’re a team that expects to win big.
Alabama sits at No. 23 in the country, falling six spots in this week’s AP Poll. That drop comes on the heels, not just of a loss to the Vols, but losses to Vanderbilt and Texas at the start of the month.
Alabama’s struggles have been so pronounced that Oats has, controversially, brought back Charles Bediako to his team. Bediako made his season debut on Saturday after being granted a TRO against the NCAA in his eligibility case, and that still wasn’t enough for the Tide to best the Vols. The last time they downed Tennessee, in 2022, a freshman Bediako played 13 minutes. That’s too long.
Alabama is still firmly in place as a tournament team, but the Tide are slipping further and further away from real championship contention. Oats has to find a way to right the ship well before his rematch with Barnes and Tennessee on February 28, and hope his team is ready for the fight in Knoxville a month from now.