Alabama is about to enter the part of the season where Oats has done some of his best work: the NCAA tournament.
Updated: Mar. 20, 2025, 5:45 a.m.Nate Oats has been a master of March so far. Nate Oats has a chance to make history over the next three weekends, not that he knows it or cares. History doesn’t play for Robert Morris, Alabama’s first-round opponent Friday in the NCAA Tournament. Former Pinson Valley High School star Kam Woods does, and if you know anything about Oats, you know one thing.
Four more wins will get the Crimson Tide back to the Final Four and tie Oats with Sanderson with a dozen NCAA Tournament victories at Alabama. Five wins will put the Tide in the national championship game and put Oats on top. He hired the effervescent Madlock as an assistant, and now Madlock at Alabama State has done what every Auburn coach with the exception of Bruce Pearl, Cliff Ellis and Sonny Smith couldn’t. Entered the NCAA Tournament, survived and advanced for at least one shining moment.
Now imagine an Alabama victory in IBOB III. Oats would leave the floor that night in San Antonio with the state’s first national title and an NCAA Tournament record of 14-4 with the Crimson Tide. That would put him on the road toward the Hall of Fame. Then Auburn exploded to steal Alabama’s spotlight, but despite key injuries that ended or shortened individual seasons, Oats kept the train on the tracks. He kept his eyes on the prize. He kept shooting everyone straight whether his team’s aim was off or he experienced the fog of war for the final 30 seconds at Tennessee.
Now the Crimson Tide enters that place where Oats has done his best work, the NCAA Tournament, with a fraction of the outside expectations attached to SEC regular-season champion Auburn and SEC Tournament winner Florida.
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