Reaching the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 level for three consecutive seasons is big for Alabama Basketball. Hats tipped to Nate Oats. In Sunday's television broadcast, Oats was credited for an Alabama Crimson Tide record of making three straight Sweet 16s. Research for the broadcast fell short on some details. Oats did not set an Alabama first-time record. He matched what Wimp Sanderson did in the 1985, 1986, and 1987 NCAA Tournaments. There is money to be made on Nate setting the program record next season, but we'll have to wait.
The Alabama program has played in 12 Sweet 16 games. There is more to that story as well. Two of the 12 were games in the Round of 16 when the NCAA Tournament field was 31 teams in 1976, and 48 teams in 1982. Alabama needed only one win (over North Carolina) to advance to a Round of 16 game against eventual champion Indiana in 1976. Only one win was needed in 1982, as Alabama received a First Round Bye as a 4-seed.
During the 1980s CBS basketball commentators began calling the Round of 16, the Sweet 16. They did not invent the name. It has been used in some high school tournaments as far back as the 1930s.
Counting the 'Round of 16' as "Sweet 16s', Wimp Sanderson leads Alabama basketball coaches with six Sweet 16 appearances. Wimp's record was 0-6. C.M. Newton came up short in his only Sweet 16 game, although Alabama led late, and seasoned Crimson Tide fans still believe Alabama should have won. After winning the National Championship, Indiana coach, Bobby Knight said Alabama was the best team his undefeated Hoosiers played that season.
Mark Gottfried did not have great success in NCAA Tournaments, but he took the Crimson Tide to the Elite Eight from his one Sweet 16 appearance.
Defining the success of Alabama Basketball under Nate Oats
One fact from Alabama basketball history defines the success of Nate Oats. In the 28 seasons, before Oats relocated from Buffalo to Tuscaloosa, Alabama made it into the second week of the Big Dance once. In six seasons as Alabama's head coach; Nate Oats has done it four times.
Two more noteworthy Alabama Basketball facts are when the Crimson Tide hits the court on Thursday night, Nate Oats will have coached in 33.3% of all Sweet 16 games Alabama has ever played. If Wikipedia is correct, in the history of the NCAA Tournament, only 69 coaches have led more teams in Final Four games than Nate Oats. The next time Oats coaches Alabama in a Final Four, only 33 coaches in the history of the NCAA Tournament, going back to 1939, will have more Final Four appearances than Oats.