Nate Oats: Alabama Needs to Face Kentucky 'Like We've Got Our Hair on Fire'

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— "When we met Thursday, [I told them] 'We are going in there and we are getting a win by any means necessary. If you're not planning on getting a win, just pack your bag because you're not getting on the plane."

This was the message Alabama men's basketball head coach Nate Oats gave the Crimson Tide before its road game against then-No. 8 Kentucky on January 18. Oats said this just a couple of days after the team's "disgusting" loss to then-No. 21 Ole Miss.

Alabama outlasted the Wildcats 102-97 that day as it was Kentucky's first home loss of the season and the Tide's first win against a top-10 Kentucky team since 2002. The two SEC programs will meet again on Saturday, this time on Alabama's floor, and the Crimson Tide are in a similar predicament compared to the shortcoming prior to the first matchup.

Except this time the term "shortcoming" needs an "s" at the end of it as Alabama has lost back-to-back games––one against No. 1 Auburn at home and the other on the road against No. 15 Missouri. Alabama came into the Auburn game tied for the top spot in the conference standings, but two-straight losses now have the Tide at third behind its Iron Bowl rival and No. 2 Florida.

"We've got to come out like we've got our hair on fire, like the season is riding on the line," Oats said during Friday's press conference. "There's a lot still riding on this game. It's NCAA Tournament seeding, SEC tournament seeding, it's giving yourself a chance to still be in it if things fall certain ways at the end of the year.

"I mean, two weeks from tomorrow, the regular season is over, like with all the time and effort these guys have put into being elite basketball players, why don't you put everything you have into finishing the year out the way that you want to finish it out? And then let's see where it falls. Let's see what happens."

Prior to the recent back-to-back losses, Alabama hadn't fallen to a team since Ole Miss, and it's not planning to do so for the rest of the gauntlet of an end-of-year slate that includes all five opponents being ranked.

On the morning of the Auburn game, the Crimson Tide was listed as the selection committee's No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. ESPN's Joe Lunardi still has Blue Collar Hoops at the No. 2 overall spot in his renowned bracketology even after the losses but that will all but certainly change if Oats and company drop another game.

However, it isn't the end of the world if Alabama falls again in the regular season as anything can happen in the SEC Tournament and NCAA Tournament. The Crimson Tide is an easy example of this as it lost to Florida in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament as the No. 3 seed in the conference, but as a No. 4 seed in March Madness, Alabama found its way to the Final Four.

"Sometimes national champions aren't regular season champions," Oats said. "Two years ago, UConn wasn't and sometimes they're not tournament champions. We're still in this thing to win the SEC Tournament we're in to win the NCAA Tournament and we're in to win every game moving forward. And there needs to be a sense of urgency about this game that we haven't seen the last two games."

Oats expects his team to play every game for the rest of the season with a win-or-go-home mentality and that his team likely won't dance as far in mid-to-late March if No. 4 Alabama doesn't show more effort and intensity from here on out, starting with No. 17 Kentucky at 5 p.m. CT in Coleman Coliseum on ESPN.

Kentucky has also struggled lately as it's 7-6 in conference play. However, the Wildcats' superb slate against non-conference opponents has helped them achieve a No. 3 seed in Lunardi's bracketology and was 10th overall in the committee's initial top-16. In other words, the Wildcats fighting for a better spot as much as Alabama is.

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