With Alabama basketball at the precipice of doing the unthinkable, the path to its 1st national championship appears astoundingly clear.

Only 1 other No. 1 seed besides the Crimson Tide survived the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament, with Purdue becoming the 2nd No. 1 seed to lose to a 16 seed, and Kansas falling to Arkansas in the 2nd round.

Bama was business-like in shoving aside Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Maryland while, 1 by 1, its supposed biggest threats in the South Region dropped like flies.

Second-seeded Arizona was stunned by 15th seed Princeton in the 1st round.

Third-seeded Baylor succumbed to 6th-seeded Creighton in the 2nd round.

And 4th-seeded Virginia threw its season away, literally, in a devastating 1st-round loss to Furman.

The South Region was parting like the Red Sea, and the crimson-colored program that’s never even been to a Final Four was benefitting, 1 shocker at a time.

That plucky Princeton team didn’t stop at 1 token NCAA Tournament win, either, taking down Missouri in the 2nd round to set up a Sweet 16 clash against Creighton for what could be the right to face the mighty Tide. In other words, Alabama could find itself lining up against a 15th-seeded Ivy League team in the Elite 8, which would be jaw-dropping, or it could be matching up against a Creighton team that’s solid but somehow managed to lose 12 games this season.

All of these good omens and good vibes have to mean that Nate Oats’ program is finally ready to go where no other Crimson Tide basketball team has gone. It does feel that way, doesn’t it? It feels like most everything on the court, except for Brandon Miller’s nagging groin, is trending Bama’s way as it gets set to tackle the Sweet 16.

Only we’re guessing nobody told San Diego State about all this. The Aztecs are a rock-solid 5 seed, they have piled up 29 victories (against 6 losses) this season, they make their home in the very competitive Mountain West Conference, and they just happened to have dominated that league by winning the regular-season and conference tournament titles.

And if the Crimson Tide are really going to benefit from any of the on-paper advantages already discussed, they are going to have to go through San Diego State to get there. This reckoning will come at about 6:30 p.m. ET on Friday in Louisville in a region semifinal with a champions theme. You’ll have 2 programs playing each other who want a shot at a national title, who both did nothing but dominate their respective conferences all year.

What exactly does this mean?

Well, it means a whole lot, if you’re looking for reasons to be genuinely concerned about the Crimson Tide’s roadblock to the Elite 8.

It means that San Diego State can really play, led by a potent backcourt and a balanced scoring attack.

It means that San Diego State is used to winning, this season and this century, as the Aztecs have won 9 Mountain West regular-season crowns since 2006 and 7 Mountain West Tournament titles since 2002.

It means that San Diego State is used to being in the NCAA Tournament pressure cooker, with the Aztecs making their 12th — that’s right, 12th — tourney appearance since 2002.

And it definitely means that the Sweet 16 isn’t uncharted territory to San Diego State, with the Aztecs making their 3rd trip since 2011.

After Steve Fisher’s nearly 2-decade run of excellence in turning this program into a winning entity and an NCAA Tournament staple with a stable of talent highlighted by future Hall of Famer Kawhi Leonard, Brian Dutcher has taken the baton and run with it. Dutcher has a 148-46 record in his 6th season in San Diego, and he’s already won 2 Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year awards.

The 63-year-old Michigan native has taken what Fisher started building at the turn of the century and made it stronger, if that’s possible, to the point where anybody who really knows the college basketball landscape is no longer surprised when San Diego State shows up again in the NCAA Tournament and stays a while.

It’s happened again this season, and Alabama will have to deal with it all on Friday night as it pursues its own history with Oats admitting Thursday that Miller, his star player, leading scorer and rebounder, is not 100% because of a groin injury that he suffered during the SEC Tournament. So far, the 31-5 Crimson Tide have been able to avoid any semblance of disaster because of Miller’s predicament.

It hasn’t mattered yet.

And Oats said that while Miller is not 100%, he should be better than he was last weekend. This should make nervous Tide fans feel more nervous but also more secure, because Oats has built a winning culture over the past few years the same way that Fisher and now Dutcher have in Southern California.

Both teams have strength up front. Bama’s sturdy starting frontcourt of Miller, Noah Clowney and Charles Bediako will be tested by the likes of senior forwards Keshad Johnson and Nathan Mensah, as well as the athletic Aguek Arop and Jaedon Ledee off the bench. The quartet of Aztec big men can hurt you and they are all seniors, which means they shouldn’t be too afraid of the moment in a game where Alabama is a healthy favorite.

Another concern for the Tide? The overall burden of expectation once again is there for a program that reached No. 1 in the country for the 1st time in 2 decades while dealing with the backlash of the capital murder case that has circled around the program like a shark since January.

That’s been enough to deal with off the court, and Oats’ team has handled it quite well when it’s stepped on the court.

Friday, it will have to deal with a stable of really good Aztecs guards led by leading scorer Matt Bradley. The senior averages 13.0 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists. Limiting him will be a huge step toward victory for the simple reason that Bradley is the only San Diego State player who averages double-digit points.

But Bradley is hardly the Aztecs’ only backcourt weapon.

There is 5-10 senior Darrion Trammell, who averages 9.5 points, 2.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists.

There is junior Lamont Butler, who averages 8.6 points, 2.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists, and who also has a knack for taking the ball away from foes with 1.5 steals per contest.

And there is junior Micah Parrish, who chips in 7.9 points and 3.5 rebounds per game off the bench along with senior Adam Seiko, who averages a hair over 6 points per game and shoots 46% from 3-point territory. So the Tide need to have their guard up to prevent Seiko from catching fire off the bench.

Seiko can hurt you, if the Tide aren’t careful, and when it comes down to it, San Diego State can hurt you.

During the Aztecs’ run of excellence this century, they have yet to break through in this spot and get to an Elite 8. Which simply means they are due to do exactly that, right?

This is Alabama’s latest challenge.

Yeah, the Tide would likely be an even bigger favorite on Sunday against Creighton, and they would be a monster favorite if Princeton somehow continues its magical ride and knocks off the Bluejays on Friday night.

But to get to that scenario, Alabama will have to deal with a program that’s been on the rise for a while.

The prediction …

We’ll say the Tide will be up to the challenge, but it’ll hardly be easy. A tight game midway through the 2nd half will go Alabama’s way, and Oats’ team will get out of dodge with a 77-69 victory that will send the Tide to the 2nd Elite 8 in program history.

The Tide will survive and advance, and they’ll keep the unthinkable within reach.