Alabama coach Nate Oats offered a pragmatic view of the Crimson Tide’s 2025-26 college basketball schedule during SEC media days Tuesday in Birmingham, Alabama.
Alabama has put together a tough 13-game non-conference schedule this season, where they will meet five teams included in the preseason AP Top 25. They are No. 1 Purdue, No. 5 St. John’s, No. 13 Arizona, No. 17 Illinois and No. 21 Gonzaga.
Oats explained the reason for this schedule, saying he wanted to challenge the team and prepare it for the tough regular season against its SEC rivals starting in January 2026 and in the NCAA tournament in March.
“The thing you try to do is be the most prepared in March. So to me, at that level, you should be the most prepared team in January to play in the SEC,” Oats said (10:05 timestamp). “I don’t think playing 13 Cupcakes prepares you for SEC play. So whether we win or lose, and I’ve never shied away from playing the best schedule in the country.”
Last season, Alabama had the second-toughest schedule behind Auburn, according to TeamRankings.com. They faced ranked teams like Purdue, Illinois, Houston and North Carolina, as well as notable contenders Creighton and Oregon in non-conference games, going 4-2 against them.
This prepared the Crimson Tide for SEC play, where they went 13-5 in conference play and qualified for the NCAA Tournament with a 25-8 record. They placed second in the East Regionals, defeating Robert Morris, Saint Mary’s and BYU before losing to Cooper Flagg-led Duke in the Elite Eight.
Labaron Philon Jr and Aden Holloway named to the preseason All-SEC team
The Alabama duo of Labaron Philon Jr and Aden Holloway were recognized by the SEC before the start of the season. Philon and Holloway were named to the All-SEC first team and third team, respectively, by a group of conference members and national media.
Philon was selected to the first team along with Alex Condon (Florida), Josh Hubbard (Mississippi State), Otega Oweh (Kentucky) and Tahaad Pettiford (Auburn).
Meanwhile, Holloway was joined on the third team by Malik Dia (Ole Miss), Karter Knox (Arkansas), Jaland Lowe (Kentucky) and DJ Wagner (Arkansas).
Nate Ament (Tennessee), Boogie Fland (Florida), Ja’Kobi Gillespie (Tennessee), Thomas Haugh (Florida) and Mark Mitchell (Missouri) were voted to the SEC preseason second team.
Philon, who averaged 10.6 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.4 steals per game as a freshman, became the sixth Crimson Tide to be chosen first-team all-conference. The top five were John Petty Jr. (2021), Jaden Shackelford (2022), Jahvon Quinerly (2022), Grant Nelson (2024) and Mark Sears (2025).
Holloway appeared in every game for Alabama last season and averaged 11.4 ppg, 1.9 rpg and 1.9 apg.
The Crimson Tide was projected to finish fourth in the SEC behind Tennessee, Kentucky and preseason No. 1 and defending champion Florida.
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Edited by Geoff
