The Alabama Crimson Tide men’s basketball team is set to begin another postseason chase with a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament’s East Region after last season’s magical run for the program’s first-ever Final Four appearance.

This year’s edition of the Crimson Tide is significantly more complete than last year’s, who simply got hot at the right time and rode some favorable matchups en route to Phoenix. Such is the nature of the NCAA Tournament and what will make or break you in your road to immortality.

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Despite the unpredictably of what they call March Madness for a reason, Nate Oats has his team in a position where he feels they are more than equipped to make a run once again, even point blankly saying it would be a disappointment for his team not to get back to the Final Four:

“I’m not just happy to be in the NCAA Tournament right now. We need to make a run. Like getting in the tournament is not good enough. Anything short of a Final Four would be a disappointment in my opinion. That’s what the expectation is.”

– @AlabamaMBB head coach @nate_oats pic.twitter.com/hCR2ODUN0V

— Tide Hoops History (@BamaHistory) March 17, 2025

“I’m not just happy to be in the NCAA Tournament right now. We need to make a run,” Oats said when asked about the biggest difference between his time coaching Buffalo and now. “Getting in the tournament is not good enough. Anything short of a Final Four would be a disappointment in my opinion. That’s what the expectation is…We’re more than capable of making it back to the Final Four and winning the games in the Final Four.”

It’s not going to be an easy road, but clearly Oats has his team in the right mindset of what it will take in order to be successful over the brutal gauntlet that is the NCAA Tournament.