Alabama men’s basketball sits in a rare spot. It is ranked higher in the AP top 25 than Alabama football.
Nate Oats' squad received the No. 2 ranking in the preseason AP top 25 released Monday, the highest in program history. Meanwhile, Alabama football dropped from No. 1 to No. 7 following the loss to Vanderbilt.
Oats, while at SEC Media Day on Tuesday in Mountain Brook, was asked what it’s like being ranked higher than the football team.
“The level that the football program at Alabama has been at for an extremely long time, particularly since Coach (Nick) Saban took over, is ridiculous,” Oats said. “So just the amount of times they’ve been ranked No. 1, top 5 is absurd. We’re just trying to get the basketball program up to a championship level.”
Oats noted there are six programs at Alabama that have won national championships, but his isn’t one.
“We’re trying to get it to that level,” Oats said. “We feel like we’re at a level we can compete for one. It’s really hard to win one. But we’re still 18 national championships behind football.”
Oats led Alabama basketball to its first Final Four appearance in program history a season ago. He has won four SEC titles (two regular season, two tournament) in his five seasons coaching the Crimson Tide.
Now, entering his sixth season, Oats has a team predicted to win the SEC, per the conference‘s media. It’s the first time since 2002-03 that Alabama has been predicted to win the conference.
“We’re going to try to get our ranking as high as we can going into the NCAA Tournament,” Oats said, “go on a run, try to win a National Championship in basketball, as well.”
