Alabama knocks off Texas A&M to sweep SEC regular-season, tournament championships
The Alabama Crimson Tide are the unquestioned kings of the SEC. After winning the conference’s regular season title, Nate Oats’ squad knocked off the Texas A&M Aggies in the SEC Tournament finale by a score of 82-63.
It’s the second time in three seasons the Crimson Tide have captured both the SEC regular season and SEC Tournament crowns, and Alabama’s eighth SEC Tournament title in school history.
The aforementioned Oats and his squad have now achieved two of their three biggest goals for themselves — the third a national title, of course. Buzz Williams’ Aggies put up a fight, but the Crimson Tide avenged a loss from earlier this month to their SEC rival in the finale of the conference tournament.
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Both Brandon Miller and Jahvon Quinerly put the hopes of Alabama fans of their back throughout the day, as Miller put up 23 points and 12 rebounds, while Quinerly scored 22 points and added three assists and three rebounds, as well. Big man Charles Bediako also had one of his best games of the season, amassing 12 points and 13 rebounds on his way to a double-double.
Now Alabama turns its attention to the biggest prize in all of college basketball, the NCAA Tournament. They’ll anxiously await their fate, wondering if they’ve done enough to capture the top seed overall in the tournament. Regardless, they’ll likely be a No. 1 seed, and one region will have to go through the Crimson Tide.
The last time Alabama captured both the SEC regular season and tournament title was the 2020-2021 season, when the Crimson Tide subsequently made it to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. That season, an upstart UCLA squad took them to overtime, where Alabama fell to the Bruins.
Continuing, this season’s Alabama squad will look to expunge all memories of last season’s 2021-2022 Crimson Tide tournament team, as they were defeated in the first round by the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. This team has a different glean in their eye though, with their focus on making it all the way to the top.
One thing is for sure, Oats’ squad has dealt with their fair share of controversy throughout the season, whether self-inflicted or not, but the Crimson Tide have gelled together regardless. They’re certainly a tight bunch, and it’ll help them this week.
Nevertheless, Sunday is a celebration for Alabama, and they deserve to hold their head high, but it’ll be back to business with a larger goal in mind moving forward.