“These two games we’ve got coming up in Birmingham this weekend are not gonna be the easiest of games,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said on his radio show. “We feel like we got a pretty tough draw as a No. 1 overall seed. But I think our guys will be ready.”
Sunday night, the South’s top four seeds -- No. 1 Alabama , No. 2 Arizona , No. 3 Baylor and No. 4 Virginia -- have the second-highest average overall seed at 8.25, behind only the West at 7.75, led by Kansas.
Alabama last played in Legacy Arena in December, when fans in the arena were overwhelmingly supportive of the Tide in a neutral-site game against Gonzaga. But Alabama’s defense struggled and the Tide lost, 100-90. “You saw well we played in championship game in Nashville,” Oats said. “Eight days before that we were at A&M without our fans and didn’t fare. Let’s get our fans in [Birmingham]. It’s a big deal. Our players’ energy is a lot better when they’re in the crowd.”
“The Roll Tide fans showed up. We need them to show up even stronger in Birmingham. It might have been 75% in Nashville -- we need that be about 95%, maybe 99%, up in Birmingham. We need everybody to find their way into that arena and get themselves a ticket and support us.”
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