LOS ANGELES — It's Alabama vs. Clemson again on the college football platform…
Oh, wait a minute. The second one is Alabama vs. Clemson. elite eight — Two traditional soccer powerhouse teams meet at the pinnacle of hoops history. The two schools combined have accounted for his five of the last nine national college football championships…but what about men's basketball? They have each made one appearance in the Elite 8 so far. Alabama 20 years ago, and going back even further to Clemson in 1980.
But what's more important than that? What about Saturday's matchup?
Neither has ever made it to the Final Four.
“When Alabama and Clemson are playing in Los Angeles, most people would think we were playing in the Rose Bowl,” Alabama coach Nate Oats joked Friday. “Basketball Rose Bowl”
This is an impossible comparison to ignore. Think about it this way. NBA analyst Charles Barkley picked Arizona to win the national title, but while congratulating Clemson University on Thursday's Sweet 16 win over the Wildcats on national television, he shouted out the coach… Clemson University Football It was coach Dabo Swinney. None of the other highly paid analysts in the TNT set were daunted.
“The first thing you have to realize, and I'm sure Nate feels the same way, is that if you're the head basketball coach at Clemson or Alabama, you're not going to be a basketball school,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said. That's what I mean.'' “You're going to be in a football school. You'd better accept that early on.”
Brownell has an advantage in this department, at least in terms of longevity. Brownell, currently in his 14th season with the Tigers, is already the winningest coach in program history…despite the high-profile success of Siwinney's program, his appointment in recent years There are growing calls for “You know, football has had a lot of success over the years, but we haven't really had a lot of success,” said Clemson guard Chase Hunter, who hit the game-clinching single against Arizona. he said. That means a lot of anger, warranted or not, will be concentrated at Mr. Brownell's feet.
In a sense, that is both a blessing and a curse. Siwiny's program, which made six consecutive appearances at the CFP from 2015 to 2020, has cast a large shadow far and wide. It brings hope to other teams on campus, yes… but it also comes with a shadow. coverage. The Brownells have had six 20-win seasons and currently have four NCAA Tournament teams, but what about their four losing seasons in the ACC? It makes it a little easier to rebuild, regroup, and start fresh.
When it comes to oats, it's a slightly different beast. The University of Alabama hired him from Buffalo as a starter for the Crimson Tide in 2019 as part of an SEC-wide effort to improve the status of men's basketball in the league. Oats has been to the NCAA Tournament four years in a row, won the SEC regular season and tournament championships twice, earned the No. 1 overall seed last season, and produced the NBA equivalent of a starting five. And now, the University of Alabama is 40 minutes away from history.
“If we can do that, this will be the biggest win in Alabama basketball history,” Oats said. “The athletic department as a whole is a championship-level athletic department. We need to elevate men's basketball to the level of many other sports.”
Dancing to Elite 8 🕺 #rolltide | #blue collar basketball pic.twitter.com/9LZGDlK0zm
— Alabama Men's Basketball (@AlabamaMBB) March 29, 2024
For these coaches, who have decades of experience and long roots in their respective college towns, accepting the differences between football and basketball is one thing. (Especially in the midst of conference realignment, high-profile football and the pursuit of profit are ultimately all that matters.) So what about the players? For those whose colleagues are idolized and are perhaps only now getting their rightful shine?
Alabama All-America guard Mark Sears, who defeated UNC's RJ Davis in the Sweet 16, was asked Friday about the reaction he experienced in the Crimson Tide's upset win the day before. He grinned, then mentioned social media clips he'd seen and heard about the crowded strip, the local Tuscaloosa thoroughfare lined with bars and restaurants.
“It was like a home football game,” Sears said proudly.
Sears, an Alabama native, values that more than anyone on Oats' roster. She grew up watching Sears go to Crimson Tide games, and she still remembers visiting undefeated Kentucky in 2015 with Karl-Anthony Towns, Devin Booker and others. . It’s sold out,” Sears said. “That day I knew I wanted to be a part of something like this.” Sears took a detour to get here after his two seasons at Ohio State, but now he's at Alabama. It's been the linchpin of his most successful two-year sprint in basketball history.
There are many stories like this on both sides. Clemson star P.J. Hall grew up near Spartanburg, South Carolina, about an hour east of Clemson's campus, but he wasn't much of a sports fan as a child. But one of his best friends was a die-hard Clemson football fan…and Hall loved being in his skin. “After that, I thought, oh, I’m just going to root for (South) Carolina because they were really good,” Hall said Friday. “It was really ironic when I finally decided to go to Clemson University.” He became an All-ACC forward, one of the best big men in the country and a future NBA draft candidate. It is expected.
But perhaps the most interesting case is the player in the game who best understands the dichotomy between football and basketball schools. That's Clemson guard Joe Girard, who transferred south this summer after spending four seasons at Syracuse. Girard is a former quarterback who won a state championship in high school and has been a Clemson football fan longer than he was a Tiger. “My high school coach got the 'all in' slogan from Dabo,” Girard said, “so I obviously just followed Clemson football because I always heard about it.” But Girard chose Syracuse out of high school. It was Jim Boeheim, a national championship hoops pedigree and a Hall of Fame coach.
And for that, he went to the… quadrennial Sweet 16.
Girard had nothing but good things to say about his time at Syracuse, saying Boeheim, whose retirement last offseason was a factor in his decision to transfer, remains one of his biggest supporters. What he admired most about Boeheim, both in high school and with the Orange, was the Hall of Famer's competitive nature. He wanted the same for his next coach. “I saw how competitive Coach Boeheim was, and I heard and saw how competitive Coach Brownell was,” Girard said.
When Girard first came to campus, he knew what the support for Clemson football would be like. He just lived it. “Syracuse basketball is Clemson football,” Girard said. “It's obviously the biggest thing on campus and what everyone is talking about.” But for hoops? he wasn't sure. Then, on the first weekend in Clemson, South Carolina, the NCAA Baseball Regional Tournament was held and the stadium was packed to capacity.
“That was the biggest difference for me,” Girard said. “Just seeing how much they really enjoy their sport and support (them).”
Little John Loud!! The student watch party was amazing! 🧡 pic.twitter.com/MPKWDt4tuV
— Clemson Basketball (@ClemsonMBB) March 29, 2024
Girard knows basketball doesn't have the same level of interest as football, and probably never will. Oates knows that. Mr. Brownell knows that.
But the problem is:
Football's success doesn't disqualify men's basketball from having its moment, too. And now, so are both the Tide and Tigers.
“Certainly we are known as a football school and will forever be one of those, and we are all really proud of that,” Brownell said. “But I'm just trying my best to make the program as good as it can be. And I'm proud of what we've been able to accomplish over the last 14 years – and certainly this year we really It was special.”
Click here for ticket information for all tournament games. here.
(Photo of Clemson's Chase Hunter and Alabama's Sam Walters and Nick Pringle in November: Gary Cosby Jr./USA Today)
