Alabama Coach Nate Oats Weighs In On NCAA Matchup Against BYU
Mar 24, 2025, 1:51 PM
Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats shared thoughts on the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 matchup against BYU. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)
(Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images)
PROVO, Utah—BYU basketball prepares to face the Alabama Crimson Tide in the East Region semifinals of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night in Newark, New Jersey.
It’s a clash of two programs with high-powered offenses.
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Alabama has the highest-scoring offense in the country, averaging 90.8 points per game.
The Crimson Tide defeated Robert Morris in round one and followed that up with a Round of 32 victory over Saint Mary’s this past weekend in Cleveland.
Nate Oats has transformed Alabama Basketball
Alabama is led by sixth-year head coach Nate Oats, who has changed the entire outlook of the Crimson Tide hoops program.
Instead of being considered by Crimson Tide fans as a filler until Alabama spring football, Alabama hoops under Oats have become a national brand on the hardwood.
SWEET HOME 16 #RollTide | @AlabamaMBB pic.twitter.com/fmuxGKAOPH
— Alabama Athletics (@UA_Athletics) March 24, 2025
Under Oats, Alabama has reached the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive year and fourth time in the last five tournaments.
Last season, Alabama reached the Final Four for the first time before falling to eventual national champion UConn in Glendale, Arizona.
Alabama has faced slower-paced teams through the first two games of the NCAA Tournament.
Oats: “I’ve actually gotten to know Kevin (Young) pretty well”
After Sunday’s win over Saint Mary’s, Oats was asked if it was “refreshing” to have an upcoming opponent in BYU who is similar stylistically to the Tide.
“They’re definitely way more stylistically like us, like you said. I’ve actually gotten to know Kevin (Young) pretty well. I’ve gone to the (Phoenix) Suns training camp a couple of times when Monty (Williams) was the coach and he was the assistant there. And he’s great,” Alabama head coach Nate Oats said. “I’ve kind of been interested to follow him as he got into college. He’s done a really good job there. I’ve watched him a little bit here and there. But I haven’t dove in totally.
“I don’t know that I want to say it’s refreshing to go against somebody that plays like us because I think we’re really tough to guard, and we’ve led the country in scoring the last two years. I don’t think anybody is saying it’s refreshing to play Alabama, whoever is running the defense for the other team. I mean, in a way, maybe it’s not such a smash-mouth game like playing football out there like some of these teams, but they’re not easy to cover. He’s running great sets. They’ve got shooters all over the place. They’re good.”
Kevin Young and Nate Oats will square off on the court for the first time Thursday night at the Prudential Center in Newark. However, the two have already competed against each other on the recruiting trail.
Alabama was a finalist for BYU signee and No. 1 overall recruit AJ Dybantsa. BYU came out on top in that battle. Now, the two programs will face off with a chance to advance to the Elite Eight.
Powerful offenses battle for a spot to advance in the “Big Dance”
It’s an intriguing matchup, with both teams’ offenses among the best in the nation. Alabama is 347th nationally in scoring defense, allowing 81 points per game, but 26 of their 35 games this season have come against teams in the NCAA Tournament field.
BYU is allowing 71.4 points per game to its opponents. In the Cougars’ last NCAA game against Wisconsin, they allowed 89 points in the two-point victory to move on to their first visit to the second weekend since 2011. But they were able to produce a defensive stop at the end of regulation to secure the victory.
The Tide come into the Sweet 16 matchup with a 26-9 overall record this season.
“We’re going to have to really lock in and coaches are going to have to really do a good job getting our guys ready,” Oats added. “Then our guys are going to have to execute the plan is whatever we decide to put in and we’re going to have to make adjustments to it because I’m sure he’ll make adjustments. Yeah, I’m looking forward to playing in the Sweet 16. It’s great. It’s the first time in school history we’ve been to three straight Sweet 16s.”
BYU vs. Alabama
Regional Semifinals – 2025 NCAA Tournament
Location: Newark, New Jersey
Arena: Prudential Center
Date: Thursday, March 27, 2025
Tip-Off: 5:09 p.m. (MDT)/7:09 p.m. (EDT)
TV: CBS
Radio: KSL NewsRadio (102.7 FM, 1160 AM in Utah — Extended pregame begins at 3 p.m. MDT/5 p.m. EDT)
Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for sports.ksl.com and hosts the Cougar Tracks Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (12–3 p.m.) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU in the Big 12 Conference on X: @Mitch_Harper.
