5 things Alabama must do to knock off No. 1 seed North Carolina in Sweet 16

Alabama will play in back-to-back Sweet 16s for the first time since Wimp Sanderson patrolled the Crimson Tide sidelines wearing that quizzical scowl and those wonderfully awful plaid jackets.

It happened then, toward the end of Sanderson’s successful tenure in 1990 and ’91, and it’s finally happening again more than 3 decades later under Nate Oats, who has this flawed but feisty Tide team still breathing with a shot to get where only one Bama basketball team has gotten.

That’s the Elite Eight.

And if the 4th-seeded Crimson Tide are going to join the 2004 team as the only ones to get that far, they’re going to have to play much, much better than they did in their scrappy 72-61 2nd-round victory over pesky 12th-seeded Grand Canyon on Sunday night in Spokane, Wash. Oats wasn’t bashful about admitting that right away in the breathless aftermath, as he dished out plenty of deserved praise to the grit his team showed in overcoming a late 3-point deficit with a game-ending 17-3 run while peeking into the future at the blue-blood behemoth that awaits the Crimson Tide on Thursday night (9:39 p.m. ET, CBS) in Los Angeles.

That’s top-seeded North Carolina, which has been to so many Elite Eights through the decades that they’ve lost count and don’t really care to count, either.

The Elite Eight is where UNC expects to be.

The Elite Eight is where Alabama has yearned to be for 2 frustrating decades.

Last season finally looked like the Tide’s time, until it wasn’t. Twelve months later, fueled by relentless point guard Mark Sears and a potent offense that was among the best in college basketball this season, the Tide are in the Sweet 16 for the 3rd time in 4 years with yet another shot at breaking through.

To take down Hubert Davis’ Heels in the West Region, the Crimson Tide will need a ton to go right. But here are the 5 biggest things Alabama (23-11) will need to do to shock UNC (29-7) and play for a trip to the first Final Four in program history:

1. Sears needs to be extra special

Sure, Bama has other weapons, like Rylan Griffen and Aaron Estrada, who were both key in outlasting Grand Canyon. And who would’ve picked freshman Mouhamed Dioubate as the one to drag the Tide across the finish line against the Lopes, scoring all 9 of his points in the final 5 1/2 minutes. Sears isn’t on an island here. But he’s the engine and the heartbeat of this Bama team, and he showed it again on Sunday with yet another brilliant floor game, posting 26 points, 6 assists and 3 steals to go with 12 rebounds, and 6-1 point guards aren’t supposed to pull down 12 rebounds in NCAA Tournament games.

Sears literally does everything and means everything to the Tide, and if they are going to hang with ACC Player of the Year RJ Davis and the Heels, then Sears is going to have to duplicate what he did against Grand Canyon — and probably score a little more. His season high is 35 against mighty Purdue. All this while Hubert Davis’ defensive hounds are keying on him. Sounds easy, right?

2. Get Wrightsell right in time for tipoff

The numbers might not show it, but senior guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr. is one of the Tide’s most valuable pieces, and he sure has had a difficult time staying on the court. Bama was forced to play without him earlier this season, when he missed 4 games with a concussion. The ridiculously bad luck has followed Wrightsell into the postseason, as he was hit in the head during Friday’s first-round win over Charleston and couldn’t practice Saturday. Then on Sunday night, Wrightsell suffered another head injury in the first half on an inadvertent elbow to the head and couldn’t return.

Wrightsell’s teammates spoke to him at halftime and told him they were going to win the game without him and for him, so he’d have another game to play in and so his season of absurd head injuries wouldn’t end like this. They kept their promise, and after Sunday’s game Oats said that Wrightsell would definitely be available in 4 days against UNC. That’s really good news, but Bama doesn’t just need Wrightsell available, it needs Wrightsell to be healthy and able to start and finish the game.

3. Don’t leave that defense in Spokane

After overcoming Charleston’s 96-point onslaught on Friday by doing what it’s done all season, which is outscore teams, a funny thing happened against Grand Canyon. The Tide actually played some defense. Some really good defense. Bama held the Lopes to 61 points, including 3 down the stretch after falling behind 58-55, which allowed it to advance despite an equally atypical low scoring output. With their season on the line, the Crimson Tide clamped down on Grand Canyon and star Tyon Grant-Foster, who still got his with 29 points but was unable to do anything when it really counted.

Look, there’s probably no way Bama is holding Carolina to anything resembling 61 points. That’s not the point. What matters is the Tide bringing that same defensive edge to Los Angeles, so the Tar Heels at least have to work for their points. Because a return to the no-defense theme that’s plagued Bama for most of the season likely means the end of the season.

4. Don’t let RJ Davis dictate the game

The Tar Heels have weapons all over the court. Armando Bacot is a monster up front, and Harrison Ingram is a versatile threat from anywhere. But RJ Davis was the ACC Player of the Year. He’s the head of the snake. He makes Carolina go, similar to what Sears does for Alabama. The senior has gotten better every season in Chapel Hill, he’s ready to lead UNC to a national title, and if he’s able to slice and dice his way through the Tide’s oft-porous defense, then it’s going to be a long night in Los Angeles for Alabama. It’s really that simple.

5. And let the Tar Heels feel the pressure

North Carolina is a 4-point betting favorite via DraftKings. That’s not a lot, but the Heels are the 1 seed in the West and they carry 100% of the pressure in this matchup. Bama carried this weight last March and it didn’t do well with it. This time, there is no pressure on the Tide, particularly facing a perennial powerhouse like UNC in the Sweet 16. Not many outside Oats’ locker room and the 205 area code expect Bama to survive past Thursday night. This all means the Tide can play free and loose, and they should play free and loose. And if the 50-50 bounces and loose balls go the right way in LA and Bama can annoy UNC with its breakneck pace, then maybe all that pressure and expectations for the blue-colored blue-blood from Chapel Hill will push the Tide across the finish line.

That 2004 Bama team can’t stand alone forever, right?