The University of Alabama men’s basketball team earned a No. 4 seed in the Midwest Region for the 2026 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament and will play against No. 13-seeded Hofstra on March 20. The game is scheduled to tip off at 2:15 p.m. Central Time at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Florida, and will be broadcast on TruTV.
The winner of this first-round matchup will advance to face either No. 5 seed Texas Tech or No. 12 seed Akron in the next round. This appearance marks Alabama’s 26th time competing in the NCAA Tournament, where the program holds an all-time record of 30 wins and 25 losses.
Alabama is noted as the only Division I team to have reached both a Final Four and an Elite Eight over the past two seasons. Head coach Nate Oats has now led his teams to nine NCAA Tournament appearances out of ten possible years during his coaching career, including every year he has been with Alabama except for the cancelled tournament in 2020.
This year also marks several milestones for the Crimson Tide program: it is their sixth consecutive NCAA appearance, tying a previous record set from 1982-87 (with the note that Alabama’s appearance in 1987 was later vacated). Additionally, it is the first time Alabama has secured a No. 4 seed or better for four straight tournaments, having previously been seeded No. 1 in 2023, No. 4 in 2024, and No. 2 in 2025.
TIDE PRIDE members who requested tickets by March 8 will receive updates via email regarding their ticket status on Monday. The university reports that its ticket allotment has sold out through presale orders; fans seeking tickets are encouraged to visit SeatGeek.com.
Looking ahead, Alabama aims to continue its recent success under Oats as it enters another postseason run.
