Every year, the NCAA Tournament proves to be impossible to predict. Alabama's Final Four run is not as shocking as NC State making it to the National Semifinals. But considering the Rolling Tide's slide were entering March and the team's noticeable defensive shortcomings, Nate Oats' team was far from a popular Final Four pick.

Bama lost its SEC Tournament opening to Florida, giving up 102 points, and dropped four of six contests leading up to March Madness. But the Tide came out hot in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament, scoring 109 points against Charleston before taking down Grand Canyon, North Carolina, and Clemson en route to the first Final Four appearance in program history.

Alabama now faces a difficult matchup against UConn — the people's choice to be the national champion. While Bama has the high-flying offense to pull off the upset, the Tide's lack of interior size and strength could be its undoing against this juggernaut of a squad. Here is Bama's x-factor against UConn, and it's not Grant Nelson.

Alabama's interior challenges

Alabama's offense is a known quantity. The Tide have an offensive rating of 127.3 during the tourney — an improvement from its already-stellar regular season performance. Mark Sears is second among remaining NCAA Tournament players at 24.3 PPG (trailing only Zach Edey) while Grant Nelson proved that he is a legitimate NBA prospect with a 24-point performance in an upset win over North Carolina.

But the question remains whether the Rolling Tide have the defense or the interior strength to contend with 7-2 center Donovan Clingan? Against Illinois, the strength of Clingan caused the Illini to shoot just 8-28 at the rim for the game. Illinois was 3-25 inside the arc while Clingan with the game and 0-19 when the UConn big man directly challenged a shot. The Huskies also finished +9 on the boards against a team that was top 15 nationally in rebounding margin.

UConn is fifth in the nation in rebounding margin and 12th in offensive rebounding rate — a bad omen for a Bama squad that struggles against physicality. Nate Oats' team is just 261st in defensive rebounding rate and gave up 17 offensive rebounds against Charleston. The Die finished -8 on the boards. Against Grand Canyon, it was 15 offensive boards. When the Rolling Tide faced North Carolina, the Tar Heels grabbed offensive rebounds on 44% of their misses (22 offensive rebounds), with All-American big man Armando Bacot grabbing seven alone.

Nick Pringle must make an impact

Among remaining players, Donovan Clingan only trails Zach Edey in offensive rebounding rate and Alabama will be hard-pressed to match up against his physically down low. Someone will need to step up against UConn.

Nick Pringle leads the team in offensive and defensive rebounding rate and has been a nuisance down low over the last three games. Pringle has 29 rebounds during this span while playing more than 60% of minutes (he played 41% of minutes on the year). At 6-10, 230 pounds, Nick Pringle is one of the few players on the Alabama roster who approaches Donovan Clingan's size. Bama will need every bit of that frame to contend with an elite big man like Clingan.

Per hoop-explorer.com, Alabama's adjusted offense is 9.8 points better per 100 possessions during the NCAA Tournament when Pringle is on the floor and its adjusted defensive efficiency is 5.9 points worse per 100 possessions when he is on the bench. Pringle leads the team with 7.8 rebounds per game during the postseason and he will need to at least match that production in the Final Four against UConn.

Alabama's high-flying offense and accurate three-point shooting will be an equalizer against UConn, but if Nick Pringe and Alabama cannot hold their own down low, it could be a long day for the Tide.