No. 2 Alabama Excites CBB Fans with Win vs. No. 7 Saint Mary's to Reach Sweet 16

Nate Oats and the Crimson Tide are one step closer to a second straight Final Four appearance.

No. 2 Alabama advanced to the Sweet 16 round of the 2025 NCAA tournament with an 80-66 win over No. 7 St. Mary's in Sunday's second round.

Grant Nelson, who has been dealing with a knee injury suffered in the SEC tournament, recorded 12 points and eight rebounds in the win.

Clifford Omoruyi posted a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double, while Chris Youngblood, Mark Sears and Mouhamed Dioubate each contributed double-digit points totals to the win.

Fans praised Oats and the Crimson Tide for making a third straight trip to the Sweet 16, as well as the program's fourth in the last five years:

Arkansas is also the sixth SEC team to qualify for the Sweet 16. The conference could send one more if Ole Miss defeats Iowa State in their own Sunday evening matchup.

Alabama outshot St. Mary's by wide margins, leading 51.8 to 34.3 percent from the field and 41.2 to 21.4 percent from deep.

The Crimson Tide's defense still let up enough chances to allow St. Mary's to stay in the game until Alabama pulled away in the final five minutes.

Standing between Alabama and a return to the Elite Eight is No. 5 BYU, which advanced to the second weekend with a 91-89 Saturday win over No. 3 Wisconsin.

Fans are expecting plenty of offense in the upcoming matchup between the Cougars, who ranked 25th in the nation with 81.2 points per game this season, and the highest-scoring team in DI men's basketball:

Last year's NCAA tournament run ended in a Final Four loss to eventual champion UConn. Now that the Huskies have been eliminated by Florida, Crimson Tide fans could have even higher hopes of making it as far as the national championship game this spring.

Alabama and BYU will tip off with a Elite Eight ticket on the line this Thursday in Newark at a time yet to be determined.