The Athletic has live coverage of Clemson vs. Alabama in men’s March Madness Elite 8 play.
Alabama vs. Clemson in a postseason game. Are we on the hardwood or the gridiron? These two schools formed a helluva rivalry in the late 2010s, meeting four consecutive seasons in the College Football Playoff, three times for the championship. They’ll renew that rivalry on Saturday, this time on the basketball side, with a spot in the Final Four on the line. Alabama is the slightest of favorites heading into the matchup.
It’s also a rematch from November, when Tigers basketball went into Tuscaloosa and earned a signature 85-77 road win against an Alabama team that was beginning an early-season slide, losing five of seven games. We’re not sure how much we can glean from that game — Clemson shot 53.3 percent and made 11 3-pointers while Alabama shot just 34.3 percent — but there may be a mental edge there for Brad Brownell’s group.
The storyline here is a significant contrast in styles. Alabama is looking for a track meet as the fastest team remaining in the NCAA Tournament. They’re not afraid to play high-scoring games, having won games in this tournament in which they allowed 96 (Charleston) and 87 (North Carolina). That lightning-quick pace — their average time of possession of offense is third in the country — is helped by some ultra-efficient scorers in Mark Sears, Grant Nelson and Aaron Estrada. They’re Division I’s highest-scoring team and fourth in efficiency, but they’re also prone to some serious defensive lapses. Consider that in their 11 losses, they’ve allowed an average of 94.1 points. They tout the worst defense among teams in the Elite Eight (104th in the country), meaning their offense needs to be firing on all cylinders to avoid a letdown.
Clemson, meanwhile, is much more willing to play in the halfcourt. They’re well-balanced behind PJ Hall, Joseph Girard III, Chase Hunter and Ian Schieffelin and do their damage inside, ranking 35th in the country in 2-point field goal percentage. They’ve stifled a pair of high-octane offenses in each of the last two rounds, limiting Baylor to 64 points (only Iowa State and Kansas held them to fewer in a loss) and Arizona to 72 points (their fourth-lowest output of the season). And the 77 points they limited the Crimson Tide to back in November wound up being Alabama’s fifth-lowest point total of the season.
The West Regional final is as close to a Cinderella matchup as we have this late in March Madness, with a No. 4 vs. No. 6 matchup. The No. 4 Tide want to run; the No. 6 Tigers want to play in the halfcourt. Few thought either of these teams would be here after both ended the regular season losing three of four games prior to March Madness. But both have hit their strides doing what they do best, making for a stellar matchup between two evenly-matched teams.
What: West Region, Elite Eight
Tipoff time: 8:49 p.m. ET Saturday
TV: TBS
Location: Los Angeles
Find the best ticket deals on StubHub to see your favorite team.
Free, daily sports updates direct to your inbox. Sign up
Free, daily sports updates direct to your inbox. Sign up
Buy
Alabama vs. Clemson odds
Odds are from BetMGM and update live.
Expert picks
Clemson vs. Alabama projected scores
Our “numbers guy,” Austin Mock, uses advanced statistical models and simulations to project the outcome of each game in the tournament. Based on 1 million simulations of the men’s 2024 NCAA Tournament, here are Austin’s projections for the Alabama vs. Clemson point spread and total:
Projected final score: Alabama 84, Clemson 80
Projected total points: 164
Players to watch
Alabama
- Mark Sears, senior guard, first-team All-SEC
- Aaron Estrada, senior guard
- Grant Nelson, senior forward
Clemson
- P.J. Hall, senior center, first-team All-ACC
- Chase Hunter, senior guard
More NCAA men’s basketball tournament coverage
(Photo of Aaron Estrada: C. Morgan Engel / NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
