Every year, the NCAA Tournament proves that events that seemed nearly impossible can and will happen. Oakland shocked the world with its First Round upset over Kentucky, and in that same region, D.J. Burns and North Carolina State reached the Final Four as an 11-seed. Alabama's Final Four run is not shocking in the grand scheme of things. But considering where the Rolling Tide were entering March and the team's noticeable defensive shortcomings, Nate Oats' team was far from a popular Final Four pick.

Per college basketball analytics guru Haslametrics, the Rolling Tide entered the NCAA Tournament ranked dead last in momentum. Bama lost its SEC Tournament opening to Florida 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, dropping 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 recent form suggests that Bama can pull off the upset, the Tide's lack of interior size and strength could be its undoing against this juggernaut of a squad.

Poor defensive rebounding

Despite the presence of an 11-seed on the other side of the bracket, Alabama is the biggest underdog in the Final Four. UConn is favored to beat Bama by 12 points in the National Semifinal — more of a recognition of the high-level basketball the Huskies are playing right now rather than an indictment on the Rolling Tide. UConn is a nearly flawless basketball team, with just one loss this calendar year, and is adept at exposing the weaknesses of its opponents.

Against Illinois, the interior presence of 7-2 center Donovan Clingan caused the Illini to shoot just 8-28 at the rim for the game while the Huskies 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 team that can struggle against physicality. While Nate Oats' team is 23rd in offensive rebounding, it is just 261st in defensive rebounding rate.

Against Charleston, Alabama gave up 17 offensive rebounds while finishing -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.

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. No Tide player averages more than six boards per game but 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, otherwise, it could be a long day for the Tide down low.