Alabama having fun embracing the underdog role

Alabama having fun embracing the underdog role

Michigan has the pressure here. Alabama is playing with house money. Let the chips fall where they may.

Rejoice, for this is the day that we Gump.

We have some hoops to cover today, and some juicy Ty Simpson tidbits, but we begin with our stupid NCAA Lawsuit du jour, this one by way of Norman:

Heinecke, who participated in the Combine last month, has filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in an attempt to be granted eligibility to play college football in 2026, according to TheAthletic.com. A hearing is set for April 16, a week before the first day of the NFL draft.

Several athletes have taken the NCAA to court over eligibility rules, but Heinecke is a fairly unique case because the big question is whether the NCAA is right to say that the season he spent playing college lacrosse counts toward his football eligibility. Heinecke played lacrosse at Ohio State in 2021, then transferred to Oklahoma to play football in 2022. He redshirted in 2022 and then played three football seasons in 2023, 2024 and 2025, so if he can prevail upon the NCAA not to count his lacrosse season, the 2026 football season would be his fifth and final year of eligibility.

Ignore the fact that Heinecke already declared, left college, and underwent the Combine process. Can you imagine the mischief a favorable ruling would open up? Someone could conceivably have a five-year career in one sport, then turn around and do it all over again in another.

Chad Baker Mazara’s ears just perked up though, as he eyed some old shoulder pads.

[embed]Oklahoma LB Owen Heinecke still wants NCAA eligibility back after working out at Combine - NBC… Ordinarily, players who participate in the NFL Scouting Combine are done with college football and 100 percent focused…apple.news

Over the next week or so, the full NCAA body is voting on “enhanced” penalties for tampering. We finally know the contours of those changes, and they are very substantial; so punitive, in fact, that I question whether these would pass as-promulgated:

If the rule is approved, per the NCAA, “once an enrolled student-athlete who was not active in the transfer portal at the time of transfer participates in any athletically related activity at the next school, the following actions would occur:

The head coach would be prohibited from all football (recruiting and on-field coaching) and administrative duties (team meetings) for six contests.

The school would be fined 20% of its football budget.

The school would be required to reduce the number of roster spots by five for the next season, regardless of the head coach’s employment status at the school.”

[embed]With no spring portal, will schools try to circumvent the rules? The NCAA is voting on harsh… Proposed penalties look to prevent a Jake Retzlaff situation, where a player withdraws from a school after the portal…www.deseret.com

Yesterday we said one of the things that seemed different from Alabama of March versus Alabama of the regular season was the amount of fun they seem to be having. There’s nothing to lose, and so they are playing loose and with wild abandon. Consequently, they are playing some of their best basketball.

Michigan coach Dusty May noticed that as well:

“The amount of energy and effort that Alabama came out and played with … they were quick to the ball, they were aggressive,” the Michigan coach said.

“Obviously, Nate and I go way back. I was over in Ypsi [as an assistant at Eastern Michigan] when he was at Romulus [High School as the head coach].

The unique thing about their program is that those guys play with such a high level of aggression but also joy, and it’s kind of how we’ve molded our program, where we want it to be a competitive, aggressive, almost fight-to-the-death but also have some fun while you’re doing it and enjoy your teammates and your success.

“That was apparent last night while watching the game. They have that violent aggression, but also a love of playing with each other.”

[embed]Michigan coach Dusty May shares thoughts on Alabama, going 'way back' with Nate Oats Michigan Wolverines basketball head coach Dusty May discusses Sweet 16 opponent Alabama and its leader, Nate Oats.www.on3.com

The size of the task facing Alabama is tremendous. Michigan are a mammoth team, not necessarily in height, but in thickness. They’re brawny. It’s going to be difficult for Alabama to move the Wolverines off the blocks defensively. While on offense, they’ll need to reprise some of the spacing they used to great effect against the likes of Houston and St John’s. And yes, that means shooting better from the perimeter and forcing UM to either foul dribble penetration or giveaway layups.

I just don’t know how Alabama defends Michigan. Aday Mara is so much bigger than Aiden Sherrell. Morez Johnson is so much stronger than both London Jemison and Taylor Bol Bowen. Amari Allen is a good wing, but Yaxel Lendeborg is just a way better player right now. Michigan also has hordes of defenders that it can throw at Alabama star Labaron Philon.

Michigan should dominate the boards, dominate the paint and just hope and pray it doesn’t catch Alabama on a day when it goes nuts from downtown. Alabama didn’t miss Aden Holloway in the first weekend, but it’d miss him in this one if he can’t play. Without making at least eight more 3-pointers than Michigan, it’s hard to find pathways for Alabama to win this one. But it’s entirely possible because Alabama may have the three best shooters on the floor at all times.

I do contest the alleged hopelessness here though. Michigan stumbled and bumbled around with smaller teams and less physical ones down the stretch. And they outright lost to Purdue, a squad that Alabama matched nearly punch-for-punch. I think very recent familiarity with the United Center might help the Tide as well.

[embed]March Madness Sweet 16 set: Picks, matchups and what to watch after wild opening weekend The Sweet 16 is set after a wild opening weekend of March Madness. Here's a full breakdown of every matchup, with early…www.cbssports.com

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Fascinating how the narratives are evolving around Simpson, isn’t it? The more Scouts look at Mendoza, the more they see someone who thrived on RPOs off low-volume and hasn’t shown a mastery of an NFL playbook. And for Ty, it’s the opposite: For eight weeks, he was the best quarterback in the country, if NFL skills were being assessed.

Remember when nitwits said before the Combine that “no one had him in the First Round?” PFFFFFF.

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Make Their Ass Quit: Hoops Edition.

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It would be nice if the Tide could reprise that performance, and run Michigan’s dick into the dirt on Friday. Unfortunately, the Wolverines are also one of the few tempo teams remaining in the tourney, and alongside Alabama and Arkansas, are elite at pushing the ball.

Still, it may be worth trying, because getting down the floor on a break is well and good, but getting back on defense, defending a few passes, and stopping a shot in about 7.2 seconds is a very different matter. If anything, we may see the Tide try to leverage UM’s size against them and both go even faster on offense and/or make a few additional passes in the halfcourt; you want to get those lummoxes moving.

What sayeth CNO on being heavy ‘dogs to the Skunk Bears?

“I don’t think it should be that hard because we’ve got a great group of guys that fully has bought into wanting to continue to play together for as long as they can, and that’s what it’s gonna take to beat Michigan,” Oats said. “I mean, Michigan, some people have them as the best team left standing. KenPom has them as the №1 team in the country. They’re very good.

“We know we’re underdogs. Sometimes it’s not the worst thing to come in with a chip on your shoulder. We were small underdogs against Tech, I think. … They were favored by a point and a half, and we won by 25.”

Michigan is a 10.5-point favorite over Alabama ahead of their Sweet 16 matchup, per BetMGM. The Wolverines are one of three №1 seeds left standing and will be a tough out for any team moving forward. But the Tide is coming off a dominant showing against Texas Tech, making the contest one of the most interesting to begin the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.

“We haven’t seen this version of us all year, but I think this group, the way their mindset’s at right now, what they want to get done, we just need to continue to pump confidence in,” Oats said. “That’s the way we need to play and the ball moves like it did, our intensity on defense like it is, let’s play with anybody in the country.”

He’s right, you know. Holloway or not, the Alabama we saw on Sunday night can beat Michigan.

[embed]Nate Oats gives his early thoughts on facing Michigan in Sweet 16 Michigan is a 10.5-point favorite over Alabama ahead of their Sweet 16 matchup, but the Tide is coming off a dominant…www.on3.com

As NIL and revenue sharing is biting into school budgets, it’s affecting sums spent on high school recruiting. This year, for instance, Alabama was the second-highest spender on crootin’ (outside of Tennessee, which always has and likely will always have, the most expensive bill). But, that’s somewhat misleading, because overall spending dropped in real dollar terms.

And, you absolutely know why too: this about prioritizing portal purchases:

Alabama’s recruiting budget actually dropped year-over-year. In FY 2024, the Crimson Tide was also second among SEC programs, but spent more, at $5.3 million.

UA wasn’t the only program to see its football recruiting budget fall. Tennessee also spent more than $5 million in 2024, leading the league at $5.4 million.

The drops in budget at multiple schools in the conference could be due to teams choosing to rely more heavily on the transfer portal. At times, portal recruiting can be cheaper than obtaining players the traditional way, as film is more readily available for remote evaluations, and

Recruiting spending depends on a number of factors, and teams regularly change spots on the spending list, including Alabama. During FY 2023, the Crimson Tide ranked fourth in the SEC, with $2.9 million spent on football recruiting.

**Good story here.**

Finally, your moment of levity. One of my favorite shows, Norsemen, from Norway, a spoof of A&E’s Vikings. It was so popular, that they re-shot the entire series in English for a foreign release. And its humor is very…Scandinavian.

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That’s all for now. Have a great morning, and take care.

Row Tahd.