KRT Campus
PHOENIX - The last time the Alabama Crimson Tide made it to the NCAA men's basketball Sweet 16, their coach wore plaid and was named Wimp.
The last time Alabama made it to the Elite Eight?
Try, well, never.
As most every sports fan in Florida knows, Alabama is known for its football. It's not known for its hoops, despite the media guide emphasizing the university's 90-year basketball tradition: seven SEC regular season championships, six SEC tournament championships, 16 NCAA tournament appearances, 14 NBA first-round picks, 36 NBA players, one five-time NBA champion (Robert Horry) and one Guiness Book of World Records entry for George Linn's 96-foot basket in 1955.
But to truly get respect for basketball at Alabama, current coach Mark Gottfried said it's going to take the Crimson Tide's first Final Four appearance.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
His team is already halfway there, squeaking a one-point victory over Southern Illinois in the first round and then stunning No. 1 seed Stanford (which had a 30-1 record) with a three-point win. It's Alabama's seventh trip to the Sweet 16, but first since 1991.
Next up? The defending NCAA champions.
On Thursday night at 9:40, No. 8 Alabama (19-12) will take on No. 5 Syracuse (23-7) in the second game of the Phoenix Regional semifinals at America West Arena.
Second-seeded Connecticut (29-6) will play No. 6 Vanderbilt (23-9) at 7:10 p.m.
Syracuse certainly isn't looking past the Crimson Tide, which is featured on this week's cover of Sports Illustrated along with another surprise from the football state - UAB upset Kentucky, the top seed of the tournament. SI's headline reads: "Underdog Days. Sweet Alabama."
When a reporter repeatedly asked Syracuse sophomore guard Gerry McNamara if the team was looking ahead to a matchup with Big East rival UConn, McNamara repeatedly said: "We're playing Alabama." McNamara wouldn't even say "UConn."
Jim Boeheim, Syracuse's longtime coach, who has led the Orangemen to the NCAA tournament 23 times in his 28 years, also isn't looking past Alabama despite its 12 losses (two at the hands of Florida, including a 75-73 overtime loss in the SEC tournament).
"Alabama played an incredibly tough schedule, and when you do that, you are going to get beat," Boeheim said.
Alabama lost four players from last year's team, including freshman sensation Mo Williams, who is playing for the Utah Jazz after being drafted last year in the second round (47th overall).
Gottfried, who played in three Sweet 16s for Alabama when Wimp Sanderson coached, took his team to the Bahamas for some bonding in August. And while they lost their first game, 71-62 to Pittsburgh in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic in New York, the game showed the players they could compete with the top teams in the country.
Sophomore 6-6 forward Kennedy Winston, a first-team all-SEC player who can score, shoot, rebound and defend, leads the team with 16.9 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. But he's got a good surrounding cast, including one-time walk-on guard Antoine Pettway, 6-3 guard Earnest Shelton and 6-7 forward Chuck Davis, whose one-handed shot in the lane graces the SI cover.
