Day One of the 2026 NCAA Tournament is officially in the books, and boy was it a doozy of a day. A trio of teams seeded 11 or worse pulled off outright upsets – highlighted by High Point’s electric win over Wisconsin – and we came awfully close to seeing our third ever 16-seed advance to the Second Round, as the Siena Saints came up just shy of knocking off the #1 overall seeded Duke Blue Devils. One of those 11-seeds – VCU – pulled off the largest First Round comeback in the history of the Big Dance as North Carolina completely collapsed in the last ten minutes of the game.
It was a classic March day of madness, and we get to do it all over again today. Even better, our beloved Alabama Crimson Tide will join in on the action this afternoon, as Nate Oats leads the Tide onto the court for the sixth straight year in the NCAA Tournament – tied for the most consecutive appearances in program history (1982-87). The opponent for the 4th-seeded Tide will be the 13th-seeded Hofstra Pride of the Coastal Athletic Association (formerly the Colonial Athletic Association).
The Pride will be making its fifth ever appearance in the Big Dance, the last coming back in 2001 when Jay Wright was coaching them. Wright actually took them to back-to-back appearances before getting the job at Villanova, where he led the Wildcats to a quartet of Final Fours and a pair of National Championships over twenty years of a Hall of Fame career. Hofstra has never even won an NCAA Tournament game.
What: #4 seed Alabama Crimson Tide (23-9, 13-5 SEC) vs #13 seed Hofstra Pride (24-10, CAA Champs)
Where: Benchmark International Arena, Tampa, FL
Line: Alabama -11.5 (According to FanDuel)
Hofstra is currently coached by Speedy Claxton, who actually played for Wright for the first of those two NCAA Tournament teams at the turn of the century. Claxton went on to be drafted 20th overall in the 2000 NBA Draft and spent the entirety of the 2000s playing in the league, even winning a championship in 2003 with the San Antonio Spurs. The former point guard has bestowed his knowledge of the position well on his current Pride team, as Hofstra is led by a pair of dynamic guards in Cruz Davis (20.2 PPG, 4.6 APG, 3.7 RPG) and Preston Edmead (15.9 PPG, 4.4 APG, 3.5 RPG).
Both guards can really score (Cruz: 44.3%/39.9%/82.9%; Edmead: 40.4%/38.3%/83.3%) and they both took turns hitting big-time shots during their CAA Tournament run. Edmead was particularly clutch for Hofstra in the semifinal overtime win against Towson. Alabama’s backcourt will have their hands full with these guys. The Pride has a pair of near seven-footers from across the pond, and both have REB% hovering around 20%.
The Crimson Tide is a substantial favorite in this game, and if history is any indicator, Nate Oats really hasn’t had many issues with low-to-mid major teams during his time in Tuscaloosa, so it’s hard to project that will change today. Still, Hofstra is a dangerous team with an obvious path to an upset victory – control the tempo, hit big shots, keep Philon out of the paint, and take advantage of Holloway’s absence – so the guys better be ready to go out and perform.
Where will the journey end up for the 2026 edition of the Tide? It’s been a bit of a roller coaster this season thus far, so hopefully things close out on a high note. Roll Tide, folks, and Hope for the Best.