Alabama vs San Diego State: 2023 NCAA Tournament game preview, TV schedule, prediction
San Diego State was the favorite in its matchups in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Can they win as an underdog against top-seed Alabama?
TV schedule: Friday, March 24th, 6:30 pm ET, TBS
Arena: KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky
Coming into the NCAA Tournament, one of the favorites to win it all was Alabama (31-5). While there have been a few upsets, the Tide has remained relatively unscathed to this point. They nearly scored 100 points in a blowout win over 16 seed Texas A&M Corpus-Christie, before beating Maryland, 73-51, in the Round of 32.
Jahvon Quinerly led all scorers in the game with 22 points, while Charles Bediako produced 10 points and 10 rebounds. Brandon Miller, who leads the team in scoring on the season overall, finished with 19 points and seven rebounds after going scoreless in the previous game.
When the Tide is clicking offensively, they’re incredidbly difficult to stop. They’ll be tested against one of the top team defenses remaining in the NCAA Tournament in San Diego State (29-6), who hasn’t given up more than 57 points in the first weekend. They defeated a pair of mid-majors on the way to the Sweet 16 in College of Charleston and Furman.
The Aztecs only have one double-digit scorer on the season in Matt Bradley (13.0 ppg). Against a top-tier team such as Alabama, they’ll need him to have a good game to have a chance at pulling off the upset. Guards Darrion Trammell and Lamont Butler are capable scorers as well but aren’t great shooters so there will be a question as to how the underdogs will score against a bigger team.
Alabama doesn’t need Miller to have a big game in order to win since they have plenty of other weapons. But there are times where they get off to slow starts, including the 9-2 early deficit to Maryland last weekend. If that happens against a team in San Diego State that won’t give up many scoring runs itself, this could get dicey for the Tide.
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Ultimately, I don’t see a blowout but I also don’t see a scenario where the Aztecs can keep up for 40 minutes, barring a complete offensive meltdown from the 1 seed. Look for Alabama to advance and get one step closer to its first-ever Final Four.
Prediction: Alabama 67, San Diego State 57