Alabama Discovers NCAA Tournament Fate

The Alabama Crimson Tide have limped down the stretch of the season, losing four of their last six games in SEC play, including a one-and-done appearance in Nashville in the SEC Tournament.

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The pain of how the regular season and the SEC Tournament ended for Alabama can have Crimson Tide fans down on their team heading into the NCAA Tournament. However, to quote a great shaman, "The past can hurt, but you can either run from it or learn from it."

Nate Oats has said multiple times what Alabama needs to do to be successful, defend. In the postgame press conference after Alabama's loss to the Florida Gators, Oats said, "We've got a week to decide whether we can sit down and guard for 40 minutes or not. If we can, we can make a run in the NCAA Tournament."

We'll see this week if Alabama has decided if they can sit down and guard for 40 minutes. Alabama's offense is still one of the most prolific in the country, but the Crimson Tide are letting offensive results determine their defensive effort according to Oats, "Adversity happens. You miss a shot, ref misses a call, teammate misses you being open. [...] Intensity is not there on defense. Bad defensive possession, they score. We don't come back pushing the ball with pace on offense. Makes the next offensive possession harder. Just a snowball effect."

It's selection Sunday, and Alabama has finally discovered their seeding and matchup for the NCAA Tournament.

Alabama is officially a four-seed in the West region in the NCAA Tournament. Their first game will be against 13-seed Charleston in Spokane, Washington on Friday.