First Look: Alabama Crimson Tide

Michigan will face Alabama on Friday night in Chicago (7:35 p.m. ET, TBS) in the Sweet Sixteen. The Crimson Tide advanced through the first weekend with a 90-70 win over Hofstra and a 90-65 demolition of shorthanded Texas Tech.

Alabama is 25-9, ranked 12th on KenPom, and has one of the best offenses in the country, but is most known for two famous legal proceedings that impacted its season; the mid-season addition of G-Leaguer Charles Bediako, who played five games before being ruled ineligible again, and No. 2 scorer Aden Holloway’s arrest after 2 pounds of marijuana were seized from his apartment.

Friday’s tilt should be a high-scoring, high-tempo affair between two coaches known for embracing analytics. Dusty May and Nate Oats have faced each other once, a 78-59 Alabama win on November 11th, 2019. It was Oats’ second game in charge at Alabama, while May was just in his second year of building Florida Atlantic into an eventual Final Four team. Now, they’ll put their systems to the test on one of the biggest stages in the sport.

Another elite offense — pace, space, threes, and ball screens

Alabama has the No. 3 offense in the sport, and most college basketball fans know what Nate Oats is about offensively. The Crimson Tide wants to play as fast as possible, shoot as many threes as possible, and spam as many ball screens as possible.

Alabama is ranked 4th in adjusted tempo, 6th in offensive possession length, 1st in 3-point volume, and 1st in pick-and-roll points per game (top 20 in both volume and efficiency).