The thrill of March Madness has come to a close, as the UConn Huskies defeated the Purdue Boilermakers to win a second consecutive national championship. However, the Huskies aren’t the only winners. The Alabama Crimson Tide made unprecedented strides and appeared in the program’s first-ever Final Four.
Success in March leads to a recruiting boost, more fan involvement, and in the current era of college athletics, more name, image, likeness money.
Alabama’s deep tournament run resulted in a massive jump in the right direction in the final USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, moving up 14 spots all the way to No. 4.
Rank
Team
Record
Points
Change
1
UConn
37-3
775 (31)
–
2
Purdue
34-5
744
+1
3
Houston
32-5
651
-1
4
Alabama
25-12
542
+14
5
Tennessee
27-9
638
+1
6
North Carolina
29-8
578
-1
7
Illinois
29-9
561
+3
8
Iowa State
29-8
539
-4
9
Duke
27-9
521
+5
10
Creighton
25-10
473
+1
11
Marquette
27-10
457
-3
12
Arizona
27-9
440
-3
13
North Carolina State
26-15
389
+20
14
Baylor
24-11
330
-1
15
Clemson
24-12
325
–
16
Gonzaga
27-8
312
–
17
Auburn
27-8
302
-10
18
San Diego State
26-11
217
+7
19
Kentucky
23-10
171
-7
20
Utah State
28-7
164
-1
21
Kansas
23-11
135
-1
22
Saint Mary’s
26-8
128
-7
23
South Carolina
26-8
124
-6
24
Washington State
25-10
62
+3
25
Texas Tech
23-11
49
-3
Patrick Conn of the College Sports Wire broke down the winners and losers of the final Coaches Poll and named the Crimson Tide as a winner.
“What a job by Nate Oats and the Alabama Crimson Tide. They advanced to their first Final Four in school history after winning the West Region. They had to finish off the No. 1 North Carolina Tar Heels and No. 6 Clemson Tigers to get there. The Tide gave UConn a run but it just wasn’t enough as the Huskies prevailed.
“After a pair of Sweet 16 appearances and this run to the Final Four, what does the former math teacher have in store for 2024-25?”
Head coach Nate Oats and the Crimson Tide have a bright future together and fans have many reasons to be excited for the 2024-2025 college basketball season.
Contact/Follow us @RollTideWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Alabama news, notes and opinion. You can also follow AJ Spurr on X @SpurrFM.
Story originally appeared on Roll Tide Wire
