Nate Oats dives into Alabama’s scheduling philosophy concerning talented mid-major programs
By David Wasson
Published:
The mid-major scheduling debate has been a hot one during the 2026 NCAA Tournament, which began when High Point coach Flynn Clayman called out power-conference coaches for ducking mid-major programs after his 12th-seeded Panthers upset fifth-seeded Panthers.
“Looks pretty obvious to me that high-majors need to play mid-majors early in the season,” Clayman said after Thursday’s upset victory. “Because they said we didn’t play nobody. We played somebody now.”
Alabama coach Nate Oats was asked about his scheduling practices prior to the fourth-seeded Tide’s Round of 32 matchup against fifth-seeded Texas Tech on Sunday (9:45 pm ET, TBS) and said he was open to playing any team that was good enough to hang with his.
“The only mid-major schools we turn down [to schedule] are the ones that aren’t good enough,” Oats said Saturday during a media availability before the Crimson Tide’s second-round game. “Like, when we look at our buy games, they need to be good enough because I don’t want to playing Quad 4 games.”
Alabama (24-9) scheduled so-called “buy games” in 2025-26 with mid-majors like North Dakota, UTSA, South Florida, Kennesaw State and Yale before the SEC schedule kicked into gear. All but one – the Kennesaw State contest played in Birmingham – was played at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, and Alabama was 5-0 in those games.
The Tide’s next matchup is definitely not against a mid-major. Alabama currently holds 50% odds to beat Texas Tech on Sunday, per Kalshi:
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
