Oats vs. Musselman: A Rivalry in the Making

The two coaches both joined the SEC in 2019 — and have programs on the rise.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Winning in college basketball is difficult.

Winning six national championships at one school in 13 years is not realistically possible — as Nick Saban has done since taking over the Alabama football program in 2007.

Perhaps the greatest college basketball coach of all time, Mike Krzyzewski, won five national championships at Duke in 42 years — a remarkable feat.

For Alabama head coach Nate Oats and Arkansas head coach Eric Musselman, the results came quickly — at two programs yearning for success. A once storied program, the Crimson Tide made the NCAA tournament once from 2007-2018. Enter Oats, and Alabama has won an SEC regular season and tournament championship, made a trip to the Sweet 16, reached the Big Dance as a No. 6 seed in 2021-22 and now is the No. 4 team in the country.

The Razorbacks have reached the Elite Eight twice since the arrival of Musselman — with an overall record of 85-31 (34-22 SEC).

“We’ve both done a pretty good job getting programs turned around,” Oats said. “At the beginning of conference [play], we're both [ranked in the] top-20. He’s done a great job of getting talent in there and coaching them. I think we’ve done a decent job here.”

Both coaches arrived to the SEC at their respective schools in 2019. That’s just three seasons — and yet all of those combined accomplishments.

And neither is slowing down. Musselman brought in the No. 2 recruiting class in 2022 and currently has Arkansas ranked 15th in the country. As mentioned before, Oats may have his best team yet — ranked fourth in the country.

In the new world of the transfer portal, Oats and Musselman are two of the best at re-recruiting talent. Both the Crimson Tide and Razorbacks attained six players on their current rosters roster through the portal.

The two young guns of the SEC also entered Division I college basketball at the same time, with Oats beginning at Buffalo and Musselman at Nevada in 2015.

Their first meeting came in November 2016.

“We played each other in the Great [Alaska] Shootout,” Oats said. “They got us up there. He had a really good team at Nevada — we were pretty good at Buffalo.”

That was the first and only meeting in history between the Bulls and the Wolf Pack. Now, the two are rivals in the same conference — competing for the same goal every year. Musselman currently leads Oats 3-2 in their five matchups thus far. There are plenty more to come.

Oats and Musselman will meet at midcourt prior to another clash on Wednesday night — with potential SEC championship hopes on the line. Tipoff between the Crimson Tide and Razorbacks is set for 6 p.m. CT on ESPN2.

“This game probably means a little bit more right now than it used to in the past,” Oats said. “So this would be a fun game to go get. […] The fact that they’ve started 1-2 — I don’t think [that] fazes them a whole lot. I think they’re gonna be ready to go. [They’re] still planning on competing for an SEC championship — as we are.”

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