Previewing Alabama Basketball at the West Regional in Los Angeles
The Crimson Tide has advanced to the Sweet 16 in the West Region along with three other teams, one of which will leave Los Angeles with a ticket punched to the Final Four.
LOS ANGELES — Once again, Alabama basketball has advanced to the Sweet 16.
The Crimson Tide has won at least two games in the NCAA Tournament for the third time in the past four seasons, setting up a matchup with 1-seed North Carolina on Thursday at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, with the winner advancing to the Elite Eight.
Alabama and North Carolina make up one half of the remaining teams in the NCAA Tournament West Region, with Clemson and Arizona following. So let's take a look at each team remaining in the Crimson Tide's region, as one of them will be advancing to the 2024 Final Four in Phoenix in just a few days.
1-seed North Carolina
North Carolina was named the 1-seed of the West Region on selection Sunday, and the Tar Heels (27-6, 17-3 ACC) have advanced to at least the Sweet 16 for the second time in three seasons under head coach Hubert Davis.
In the first round, North Carolina easily handled 16-seed Stetson before putting a 16-point beating on 9-seed Michigan State in the Round of 32.
The Tar Heels are led by RJ Davis, one of the few point guards in American who can rival the production and skillset of Alabama's Mark Sears. Davis, a senior, leads the team in scoring at 21.3 points per game, and is one of four finalists for National Player of the Year.
Holding down the middle for North Carolina is center Armando Bacot, a COVID senior who's first year in college was Nate Oats' first year at Alabama. Coicidentally enough, Oats coached against Bacot during his first year at UNC in the Battle 4 Atlantis, back in November of 2019.
The Tar Heels have veterans, and they have experience in March. Just two seasons ago, Davis and Bacot were key pieces in North Carolina's run to the national championship game. Now, they're leaders on a team that is the odds-on favorite to come out of the West Region and make the Final Four once again.
North Carolina also features Cormac Ryan, a sharpshooting wing to Alabama fans might remember from Notre Dame. Ryan hit seven 3-pointers for the Fighting Irish in an upset of Alabama in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
Analytically, North Carolina is well-balanced. The Tar Heels rank No. 17 in offensive efficiency per KenPom, and No. 6 in defensive efficiency. The biggest area Alabama may be able to take advantage of, though, is North Carolina's infrequency forcing turnovers. The Tar Heels rank No. 310 in the country in rate of turnovers forced, which could take the pressure off an Alabama offense that struggles against defenses that force high turnover rates.
Alabama is going to need to once again be on its defensive A-game to compete with a team that scores the ball so well inside. But if Alabama can guard with the same intensity on the perimeter that we saw last game against Grand Canyon and put together a better shooting performance, the Crimson Tide will have more than a fighting chance.
2-seed Arizona
The other side of the West regional features two teams that Alabama has already played this season, two teams that Alabama lost to.
Arizona (27-8, 15-5 PAC-12) was a force all season, being one of the few teams to be ranked No. 1 at some point during the season and remained in contention for a 1-seed down the stretch.
The Wildcats beat Alabama in a semi-home game in Phoenix back in December. Though Arizona won the game 87-74, the Crimson Tide competed for over 75 percent of the game and even had a lead about halfway through the second half.
Arizona gave Alabama fits inside with center Oumar Ballo, who was one of the early opponents that showed the inconsistencies of Alabama's interior defense. The Wildcats also boast PAC-12 Player of the Year Caleb Love, a former North Carolina star who averaged 18.1 points per game on high-volume shooting.
If the Crimson Tide were to advance to the Elite Eight and see Arizona, the opportunity would be there for a revenge game. But even if Arizona isn't the team that advances from the other side, Alabama would still get a chance ay a revenge game against the other potential opponent.
6-seed Clemson
The most surprising team to have advanced this far in the West Region is Clemson. The Tigers (23-11, 11-9 ACC) are the only team in the West to advance while not being the highest-seeded team in its first weekend pod.
Clemson beat 11-seed New Mexico in the first round, a team many teams had upsetting the Tigers. Clemson then went on to beat 3-seed Baylor as an underdog in the second round, advancing to its first Sweet 16 since 2018.
The Tigers knocked off Alabama in Coleman Coliseum back in November as a part of the SEC/ACC Challenge, and were the first team to beat Alabama at home in a year and a half. Once again, Alabama was taken advantage of on the interior by Clemson center PJ Hall, which started the trend of elite centers terrorizing Alabama's interior defense.
While Clemson has had an impressive tournament run, many people are surprised the Tigers even ended up with a 6-seed after losing three of their last four games to end the regular season. But just like Alabama closed the season poorly, the Clemson has found a renewed sense of urgency in the tournament and have played their way into a similarly good position.
If both underdogs were to win, Alabama would face Clemson for a chance to go to the Elite Eight, and the Crimson Tide would have a chance to avenge one of its two home losses from this season.
