The No. 2 seed in the East Region of the NCAA Tournament Alabama Crimson Tide has a chance on Thursday evening to advance to just their third Elite Eight in program history but second consecutive appearance.

Standing in their way will be the red hot BYU Cougars coming off wins against No. 11 seed VCU and No. 3 seed Wisconsin.

While St. Mary’s for Alabama last round presented an interesting test in that they play two completely different styles of tempo, the Cougars are much more similar in terms of pace and scoring.

For scoring, BYU comes close to the Tide with a top-ten offense. They have two sharpshooters in Trevin Knell and Richie Saunders who each shoot close to 45 percent from the three-point line and if the duo gets hot it can make serious problems for Alabama.

Fortunately for the Tide, they have performed fairly well over the years against teams who play a similar style and the defense of the Cougars should be vulnerable.

BYU is a better shooting team than Alabama, but barring a horrific shooting game from the Tide they have the advantage in just about every other area.

The bigs for Alabama — namely Mouhamed Dioubate, Grant Nelson, and Clifford Omoruyi — have been sensational thus far in the tournament and should be able to feast down low against an undersized Cougars team down low.

Rebounds should be a huge advantage in the favor of the Tide and even if it shoots poorly, it should be able to pull down a ton of offensive boards and second chance opportunities

Ultimately, if the Tide plays its game and does not go completely cold from the three-point line, this should be a game they win and advance before likely a massive challenge against Duke on Saturday to return to the Final Four.