What Has Happened to Alabama Basketball’s Home-Court Advantage?

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.— Alabama basketball entered the season with one of the best home court advantages in the nation over the past five years, losing just nine games at Coleman Coliseum since the start of the 2020-21 season. That has changed this year as the Crimson Tide has already dropped three games at home this year, to Purdue in November, and then back-to-back losses to Texas and Tennessee.

"We've sold out pretty much every game, so it's not for a lack of fan support. We're just not playing well at home," head coach Nate Oats said of the performances. "I think our fans have been great. The student section has been packed. We have got to play better."

With a reported 13,474 fans in attendance, Alabama's offense, which has been ranked among the best in the nation all season, disappeared down the stretch against Tennessee on Saturday night, scoring just three points in the final 5:21 of the game.

"Offensively, we've gone through too many dry spells," Oats said. "It was 77-70, and they didn't score a point for I think it was maybe (the final) 4:11 to go in the game. They didn't score until we had to intentionally foul them with like, 19 seconds to go in the game... our offense couldn't score a bucket."

Oats acknowledged the defense's solid play down the stretch of the loss, but stated that the team lacked consistent "focus and effort" on that end of the floor.

"We've got to do a better job making sure we get a great shot on every possession on offense, and then defensively, use the crowd's momentum, use the energy from them to really get you to lock in," Oats said. "Our crowd is a smart crowd, too. They know when we need a stop. They get loud, they've been good, and we just haven't given them the results that they would like to see in the home games."

Alabama now sits at 3-3 at home against Power Five opponents this year. The team has not lost more than three home games in a season since 2019-20, Oats' first year with the program. The Crimson Tide would have to go 6-0 in Tuscaloosa the rest of the season to keep that streak alive, and with games against first-place Texas A&M, Auburn, and No. 15 Arkansas among the remaining opponents, it will be a tall task for a team that has just looked uninspired at times. Alabama's first order of business will be taking care of Missouri, which has overperformed to start SEC play and sits at 4-3 in the conference heading into tomorrow night's matchup in Coleman Coliseum.