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Alabama Seniors Celebrated Senior Night in Half-Empty Arena After Loss to Florida
The No. 7-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide hosted the No. 5 Florida Gators on senior night on Wednesday. Rather than celebrate outgoing seniors Mark Sears, Grant Nelson, Chris Youngblood and Cliff Omoruyi before the game, Alabama made the decision to hold the ceremonies after the game.
Alabama moved the celebration to after the game so that it wouldn't be a distraction. This obviously didn't end up mattering because even without the distraction Alabama lost to their SEC rivals, 99-94.
Coach Nate Oats requested that fans stay to honor the seniors after the game "no matter what the final outcome was."
Despite the loss Alabama held the senior night ceremonies with one last goodbye to Mark Sears @abc3340 pic.twitter.com/3SbZaqYFbE
— Chris McCulley (@ChrisMcCulleyTV) March 6, 2025
The good news is that the seniors and their families were able to put on a happy face to be honored. Unfortunately, not everyone honored Oats's requests for everyone to stick around in the event of a loss.
Instead people had already left by the time Sears took his final shot at Coleman Coliseum—a missed three at the buzzer that didn't even matter.
Mark Sears attempts one final shot and takes his last post-game walk into the Tide student section after No. 7 Alabama falls to No. 5 Florida on Senior Night. 🏀🐘 pic.twitter.com/LFfpOhLP1K
— Alabama Crimson Tide | AL.com (@aldotcomTide) March 6, 2025
Even Auburn fans felt bad.
I’ll call him a free throw merchant and flop bait PG til I’m blue in the face but even as a hater I can readily admit Mark Sears deserved much better than this from his own fanbase for senior night recognition. Especially after the open plea from the head coach. Shameful. https://t.co/RJbLwTFUCR pic.twitter.com/HTHFDYPneW
— pablo escobarner (blue check) (@PabloEscoburner) March 6, 2025
The Tide will travel to Auburn to take on the top-ranked Tigers on their senior night on Saturday. Presumably they'll celebrate their seniors before the game.
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Stephen Douglas is a senior writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has worked in media since 2008 and now casts a wide net with coverage across all sports. Douglas spent more than a decade with The Big Lead and previously wrote for Uproxx and The Sporting News. He has three children, two degrees and one now unverified Twitter account.