BamaCentral Postcard from Chicago Before Alabama Faces Michigan in Sweet 16

After taking down 13-seed Hofstra in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament, 4-seed Alabama followed it with a 90-65 win over 5-seed Texas Tech on Sunday night and will face 1-seed Michigan on Friday evening in Chicago.

This is Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats' fourth straight Sweet 16 appearance. The only other teams that have reached the third round of the NCAA Tournament that many times in a row are Houston and Tennessee.

Alabama is the only program in the country to reach the Elite Eight in each of the last two seasons, and an upset win over the Wolverines in the Midwest Regional semifinal would add another tally to that remarkable achievement.

But it won't be easy. The Wolverines have been ranked inside the top-3 of the AP Top 25 for 14 of 19 weeks, with the other five still being inside the top-7. Alabama never entered the top-7 this season.

After dismantling 16-seed Howard in the Round of 64, the Wolverines cruised past 9-seed Saint Louis 95-72 in the Round of 32 on March 21 in Buffalo, New York. All five of Michigan's starters finished with 10-plus points, including a team-high 25 on 9 of 13 from the field (3 of 5 from deep) from Unanimous First Team All-American Yaxel Lendeborg.

But Alabama is also coming into this one with some momentum following some late-night magic on Sunday, as the Crimson Tide obliterated 5-seed Texas Tech 90-65 in the Round of 32 in Tampa, Florida. Alabama started strong on both ends of the floor with a 49-25 halftime lead, and it was more than enough to get the job done. It was the largest scoring margin between a 4 and 5 seed in NCAA Tournament history, as Latrell Wrightsell Jr. led the way with 24 points.

BamaCentral is in Chicago for the Midwest Regional. We witnessed a 15-minute practice, asked Alabama players and Oats questions about the game and also wrote some big storylines from both the Crimson Tide and Wolverines.

Here's a look at BamaCentral's practice footage, interviews from Alabama's players, press conferences from Oats and Michigan head coach Dusty May and also links to some of today's biggest stories!