When Was the Last Time Alabama Won the NCAA Tournament? (Odds to Win March Madness)

The popular narrative is that this year’s Alabama squad wasn’t as good as last year’s team, which was a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. However, the Crimson Tide are back in the Sweet 16, the same round where their season ended in 2023 with a loss to eventual national runner-up San Diego State.

Alabama didn’t win 30 games like last year, but the Crimson Tide still used one of the nation’s best offenses to finish as the regular-season runner-up in the SEC. Despite a one-and-done trip in the conference tournament, the Crimson Tide earned a No. 4 seed in March Madness and blitzed No. 13 Charleston (109-96) and No. 12 Grand Canyon (72-61) to reach the Sweet 16 for the third time in four seasons.

Alabama has the No. 4 offense in KenPom and plays at a top-10 tempo in the nation. Can the Crimson Tide’s defense fuel a run? Alabama was a trendy pick to make a deep tournament run given its high-scoring ability, but have they ever won the national championship before? Here’s a deep dive into Alabama’s NCAA Tournament track record. 

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When Was the Last Time Alabama Won the NCAA Tournament? 

It wasn’t long ago that Alabama was strictly a football school. The Crimson Tide basketball program has never won the national championship or appeared in a Final Four. In fact, Alabama missed the NCAA Tournament 10 times in 11 seasons from 2007-2017 while Nick Saban was building college football’s biggest powerhouse in Tuscaloosa. 

The arrival of head coach Nate Oates has flipped the program around, having reached the Sweet 16 three times in the last four seasons after a 17-year drought. Alabama’s last Sweet 16 appearance was in 2004, when Mark Gottfried’s squad reached the Elite Eight for the only time in school history as a No. 8 seed with upsets of No. 1 Stanford and No. 5 Syracuse. 

Alabama a Longshot in Tough Region

Alabama is +410 ($100 to win $410) to win the region, according to FanDuel Sportsbook, which is an implied probability of 19.61%. 

Alabama is 13th on FanDuel in the National Championship odds board at +3600 ($100 bet wins $3,600). 

If they want to run the table, it starts for Alabama Thursday night in the Sweet 16 as a short underdog to No. 1 North Carolina. The Tar Heels opened the NCAA Tournament with double-digit wins of their own against No. 16 Wagner (90-62) and No. 9 Michigan State (85-69). 

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