Alabama Basketball's 2026 NCAA Tournament Seed, First Opponent Announced

Alabama basketball has officially learned its placement and path for the 2026 NCAA Tournament.

The Crimson Tide has been named the No. 4 seed in the Midwest Region of the bracket. It will first play 13-seed Hofstra in the first round on Friday in Tampa, Florida. Should Alabama come out victorious, it would face the winner of 5-seed Texas Tech/12-seed Akron in the Round of 32 on Sunday.

This will be head coach Nate Oats' sixth consecutive NCAA tournament appearance. The only other time that's happened in program history was from 1982-87, but the 1987 appearance was vacated by NCAA penalties.

So, why is Alabama a 4-seed in the Midwest Region of the 2026 NCAA Tournament?

Well, if there's anything that the AP Top 25 was spot-on about this season, it was Alabama. The Crimson Tide was ranked as the No. 15 team in the Preseason AP Poll, and although it was quite the roller coaster in the rankings throughout the season, UA finished with that same rank before postseason play.

Alabama was No. 14 at the start of SEC play after finishing its nonconference slate with a 10-3 record. The Crimson Tide was 2-3 in ranked nonconference contests, with wins over then-No. 5 St. John's and then-No. 8 Illinois, but losses to then-No. 2 Purdue, then-No. 12 Gonzaga and then No. 1 Arizona.

But Alabama hit a wall after starting 4-4 in SEC play, as a two-week stretch of being absent from the AP Top 25 broke a ranked streak that started in January 2024. This was the tipping point for Oats and company, as the Crimson Tide proceeded to win eight straight games and clinch a double bye and the No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament.

Regardless of the result, UA was projected to be between a 3 and 5-seed for March Madness. Nevertheless, despite earning the double bye, Alabama fell to 15-seed Ole Miss 80-79 in the SEC Tournament quarterfinal on Friday.

2026 Midwest Region

No. 1 Michigan vs. No. 16 UMBC/Howard
No. 8 Georgia vs. No. 9 Saint Louis
No. 5 Texas Tech vs. No. 12 Akron
No. 4 Alabama vs. No. 13 Hofstra
No. 6 Tennessee vs. No. 11 Miami (Ohio)/SMU
No. 3 Virginia vs. No. 14 Wright State
No. 7 Kentucky vs. No. 10 Santa Clara
No. 2 Iowa State vs. No. 15 Tennessee State

2026 NCAA Tournament Bracket

THE BRACKET 🤩

Fill out yours: https://t.co/Jt9eXr7f5T pic.twitter.com/9g8ciMYUhv
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 15, 2026

Alabama Basketball in the NCAA Tournament:

(Season, Seed, Final Result)

1974-75: Lost in Round of 64 (NCAA Tournament seeding introduced in 1979)
1975-76: Lost in Sweet 16
1981-82: 4-seed, Lost in Sweet 16
1982-83: 6-seed, Lost in Round of 64
1983-84: 9-seed, Lost in Round of 64
1984-85: 7-seed, Lost in Sweet 16
1985-86: 5-seed, Lost in Sweet 16
1986-87 (vacated): 2-seed, Lost in Sweet 16
1988-89: 6-seed, Lost in Round of 64
1989-90: 7-seed, Lost in Sweet 16
1990-91: 4-seed, Lost in Sweet 16
1991-92: 5-seed, Lost in Round of 32
1993-94: 9-seed, Lost in Round of 32
1994-95: 5-seed, Lost in Round of 32
2001-02: 2-seed, Lost in Round of 32
2002-03: 10-seed, Lost in Round of 64
2003-04: 8-seed, Lost in Elite Eight
2004-05: 5-seed, Lost in Round of 64
2005-06: 10-seed, Lost in Round of 32
2011-12: 9-seed, Lost in Round of 32
2017-18: 9-seed, Lost in Round of 32
2020-21: 2-seed, Lost in Sweet 16
2021-22: 6-seed, Lost in Round of 64
2022-23: No. 1 overall seed, Lost in Sweet 16
2023-24: 4-seed, Lost in Final Four
2024-25: 2-seed, Lost in Elite Eight
2025-26: 4-seed, Result TBD

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Twitter/X, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Threads and Blue Sky for the latest news.