The first weekend of the 2023 NCAA Tournament is officially in the books, and what a first weekend it was. Upsets are what make March Madness special, and this first weekend delivered in a big way. Not only did we see a 15-seed make the Sweet 16 for the third straight year in Princeton, but we saw a 16-seed beat a 1-seed for just the second time ever in Fairleigh Dickinson's massive upset over Purdue.
As the field narrows to just 16 teams, the separation between the teams gets smaller and smaller. With such an exciting start to the tournament, one can only hope the finish will be just as thrilling.
That said, there are still a few teams who stand above the rest in terms of national title chances. Of those teams, Alabama may just be the team to beat in the entire field. The Crimson Tide entered the tournament as the No. 1 overall seed, and so far, they've lived up to the hype in March Madness.
Without further ado, let's take a deeper dive into why Alabama is such a threat in this tournament.
March Madness: Why Alabama is the team to beat in 2023 NCAA Tournament
As previously stated, Alabama earned the top overall seed in March Madness after an incredible season. The Crimson Tide entered the tournament with a 29-5 record, winning the SEC regular season and tournament titles. After being picked to finish fifth in the SEC in the preseason, the Tide certainly silenced the doubters all season.
Of course, they wouldn't have made it this far without an outstanding roster. The star in Tuscaloosa is phenom freshman Brandon Miller, the SEC Player of the Year and a likely top-five pick in the upcoming NBA Draft. Alabama also boasts an All-SEC Second-Team selection in Mark Sears, an All-SEC Defensive-Team selection in Charles Bediako, two more SEC All-Freshman selections in Jaden Bradley and Noah Clowney and the SEC Co-Sixth Man of the Year in Jahvon Quinerly.
So far in March Madness, the Crimson Tide have picked up right where they left off in the regular season. They have made quick work of their first two opponents, No. 16 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and No. 8 Maryland, winning each game by more than 20 points. The scary part is that they won each game in very different ways.
Against the Islanders in the first round, Alabama's offense took center stage. The Crimson Tide had five different players score in double figures while the team shot 47.1% from the field and 45.5% from three-point range. Even scarier, they did all that with Miller scoring zero points, partially due to a nagging injury.
Then against the Terrapins in the second round of March Madness, the defense took over instead. In addition to forcing 13 turnovers, Alabama held Maryland to just 35.2% shooting and 12.5% from three-point range. The offense didn't slouch either, as Miller rebounded with 19 points and Quinerly scored 22.
If all of that wasn't enough, no team benefited from the first weekend's upsets more than Alabama. No. 4 Virginia and No. 2 Arizona both lost in first-round upsets, and No. 3 Baylor lost the next round. The remaining teams in the South besides Alabama include No. 5 San Diego State, No. 6 Creighton and No. 15 Princeton. While those teams are on strong runs, matching up against Alabama is a different beast.
With an absurdly talented roster and a seemingly easy path, it's hard to pick against Alabama. The Tide are the most dangerous team remaining in the tournament after the first weekend.
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