Alabama
Nate Oats reacts to setting Alabama basketball record for Top 25 wins
No. 4 Alabama‘s 96-83 win over No. 17 Kentucky on Saturday was historic for several reasons, especially for sixth-year head coach Nate Oats.
The victory was the Crimson Tide’s eighth against an AP Top 25 opponent this season, setting a program record for most AP wins in a single season, and also marked Oats’ 26th career win over a ranked opponent since arriving in Tuscaloosa, surpassing legendary Alabama coach Wimp Sanderson for the program mark.
“Honestly, Wimp did a really good job here, but I’m guessing the SEC is a lot better now, so there’s a lot more opportunities to get Top 25 wins than he probably had,” Oats said in his postgame press conference Saturday. “But when they give you the opportunity and you take advantage of them and try to get it done. We don’t have enough because we had a chance to get two more in the last two games before this and we didn’t come up with them.”
As Oats mentioned, prior to Saturday’s win over No. 17 Kentucky, the fourth-ranked Crimson Tide had dropped back-to-back games against No. 1 Auburn (94-85) and No. 15 Missouri (110-98). Saturday’s victory over the Wildcats improved Alabama’s record against Top 25 teams to 8-4 on the season.
Of course, it doesn’t get any easier as the Tide close out the regular season against four Top 25 teams, beginning with Tuesday’s home game against No. 21 Mississippi State (19-8, 7-7), which it already beat 88-84 on Jan. 29 in Starkville. Alabama then travels to face No. 6 Tennessee (22-5, 9-5) in Knoxville next Saturday before hosting No. 2 Florida (24-3, 11-3) on March 5 with a regular-season finale at No. 1 Auburn (25-2, 13-1) on March 8.
“I think it does speak to the level of the SEC as a whole that now we have all these (Top 25) opportunities. I mean, every team we play the rest of the year is a Top 25 team, so I’m guessing Wimp didn’t have as many opportunities as we’ve had,” Oats continued. “But you also have to go win them, so a lot of credit to our guys here — Herb (Jones) is in the building tonight and today getting rehab on his shoulder, and Herb got it this thing going for us. … A lot of players that stepped up in big-time games throughout the years, and now a lot of opportunities to get Top 25 wins. So a combination of the two, it’s a good time for basketball in the state of Alabama.”
Nate Oats compares final stretch of season to NCAA Tournament
Alabama‘s final stretch of the regular season may prove to be the toughest after drawing Top 25 matchups in each of their final seven games before postseason play.
“I don’t know if anybody’s played one, two and six in the three-game stretch anywhere in the country this year, let alone to close the year out,” Oats said after the Kentucky win. “But we needed this one tonight. And we’re not going to focus on Tennessee until we get through with Mississippi State. And we’re not going to focus on Florida until we’re through with Tennessee.
“We’ve just got to take it one at a time. The good thing with playing a schedule like this is you’re not going to play three games in a row like that until you get to the Elite Eight, Final Four, championship game, if we’re fortunate enough to get that far. So we’re literally playing three teams that are going to be one or two seeds back to back to back, and Mississippi State’s playing for a good seed in the NCAA Tournament, too.”
Currently, the Crimson Tide is tied for second place in the SEC standing with Florida. Both sit two games back of Auburn for the top spot in the conference.
“Outside of maybe the SEC Tournament, we’re not going to see three teams like this until maybe an Elite Eight, Final Four, if we’re fortunate enough to get there,” Oats said. “So at least we’ll have some experience playing very good teams back to back to back.”
On3’s Barkley Truax contributed to this report.
Alabama
Alabama Shakes Set Spring 2026 Tour Dates
Alabama Shakes have lined up a string of North American tour dates for 2026. Brittany Howard and the band’s spring run includes multiple stops in Florida and a concluding two-night stint at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Denver, Colorado. Check out the new dates, plus their previously announced festival shows, European itinerary, and Zach Bryan support dates, below.
Support for the headline shows comes from Joy Oladokun, Mon Rovîa, Lamont Landers, and JJ Grey & Mofro. For every ticket sold, $1 will go towards nonprofits around the United States via the Alabama Shakes Fund, a press release notes. There is, as yet, no word on a follow-up to the band’s 2015 album, Sound & Color, but they did sign to Island this year and release their first single since that record.
Alabama Shakes:
04-16 Richmond, VA – Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront ~
04-17 Asheville, NC – ExploreAsheville.com Arena ~
04-18 Charleston, SC – High Water Fest
04-22 Memphis, TN – Grind City Amphitheater +
04-24 Atlanta, GA – Synovus Bank Amphitheater at Chastain Park +
04-25 Raleigh, NC – Red Hat Amphitheater +
04-26 St. Augustine, FL – St. Augustine Amphitheatre %
04-28 Tallahassee, FL – Adderley Amphitheater %
04-29 Boca Raton, FL – Sunset Cove Amphitheater %
04-30 Clearwater, FL – The BayCare Sound %
05-02 New Orleans, LA – New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
05-24 Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre #
05-25 Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre #
06-13 Manchester, Tennessee – Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival
07-01 Leeds, England – Millennium Square
07-02 Wasing, England – On the Mount at Wasing
07-03 London, England – Alexandra Palace *
07-05 Ghent, Belgium – Gent Jazz Festival
07-07 Lucca, Italy – Summer Festival
07-09 Lisbon, Portugal – NOS Alive Festival
07-10 Bilbao, Spain – BBK Live
07-11 Madrid, Spain – Noches del Botanico
07-25 Eugene, OR – Autzen Stadium ^
09-19 Dover, DE – The Woodlands ^
~ with Joy Oladokun
+ with Mon Rovîa
% with Lamont Landers
# with JJ Grey & Mofro
* with Tyler Ballgame
^ supporting Zach Bryan
Alabama
Jacob Crews scores 20 for Missouri in 85-77 win over Alabama State
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — Jacob Crews scored 20, and Anthony Robinson II added 19 in Missouri’s 85-77 win over Alabama State on Thursday night.
Crews shot 7 of 9 from the field, including 6 of 8 from the 3-point arc. Mark Mitchell added 15 points for Missouri (9-2), and Sebastian Mack added 10.
The Tigers had a 15-0 run in the first half, heading into the locker room up 52-39. Alabama State was held scoreless over a 4:19 drought in the middle of the second half to open a 9-0 run for the Tigers. The Hornets (3-8) responded with their own 10-0 run to bring the game within eight, 74-62. The Tigers regained control, though, to keep their eight-point lead the rest of the game, handing Alabama State their fourth loss in a row.
The Tigers shot 65% (33 of 51). Both teams shot 50% from the free-throw line.
Alabama State outscored Missouri in the final period, 38-33. Asjon Anderscon scored 23 for the Hornets, leading all players in scoring.
Up next
Missouri hosts Bethune-Cookman on Dec. 14.
Alabama State travels to Cincinnati to face the Bearcats on Dec. 17.
___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
Alabama
Katie Windham Highlights Alabama Areas of Improvement on The Joe Gaither Show
Let’s crank up a Thursday edition of “The Joe Gaither Show on BamaCentral” with Mason Woods and Katie Windham as we start getting ready for next week’s College Football Playoff game between Alabama and Oklahoma. Windham detailed how the Crimson Tide can improve over the next few weeks, we discuss the team’s health and look back at our last road trip to Norman. The show then discusses the Heisman Trophy finalists before addressing a Kalen DeBoer coaching rumor.
The program opens by power ranking the holidays before discussing Windham’s three areas the Crimson Tide can improve over the next week. Our trio picks the easiest area the team can improve and how Alabama must perform in Norman. Windham details our last trip to Oklahoma as we go down memory lane to the Sooners’ 24-3 victory last season.
The show continues on by getting Windham’s thoughts on Alabama’a College Football Playoff selection and if the Crimson Tide actually deserved its place in the field. She brings up a unique aspect of Alabama’s blowout loss in the SEC Championship and how it played into the program’s inclusion in the College Football Playoffs.
We move from next week’s game into a small discussion on Notre Dame’s reaction of being left out of the field and how it relates to Alabama’s future home-and-home dates with the Fighting Irish. Will the two esteemed programs still face off in a few years?
The show heads into the only college football action of the weekend by highlighting the strong Heisman Trophy finalist field. Who brings home the bronze statue?
Lastly, we spend the final bit of the show talking about Michigan firing Sherrone Moore and the reports of the Wolverines considering persuing Kalen DeBeor for their next head coach. Will DeBoer leave Tuscaloosa for Ann Arbor?
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