Alabama Basketball: 3 keys for Final Four NCAA Tournament game against UConn

When the dust settled on a chaotic couple of weeks in college basketball, there were two obvious teams in the Final Four and two that felt like party crashers. One of the latter is at this stage for the first time in program history: the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Nate Oats' squad was the better seed in three of its four NCAA Tournament games, the lone exception being the Sweet Sixteen upset of the top-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels. But Alabama hasn't faced a foe in this run like the indomitable UConn Huskies.

Dan Hurley's team has been destroying opponents, playing in a different stratosphere from the competition. The defending champs haven't even won any of their games in this tournament by less than 10 points.

What are three keys to an Alabama Crimson Tide upset of the UConn Huskies in Saturday's Final Four contest?

It's hard to find many people out of Tuscaloosa who believe the Crimson Tide are going to pull off a shock upset of the Huskies. But when the game tips off on Saturday night, both teams will have the same amount of people on the same hardwood floor - anything can, and has, happened at this stage.

Just don't tell that to the oddsmakers. As of Thursday evening, UConn is listed as an 11.5-point favorite over Alabama, according to BetMGM. The moneyline on the Crimson Tide is +525.

Alabama plays in the second game of the Final Four, tentatively scheduled to tip off at 8:49 pm ET on TBS on Saturday night. The game is being played in Phoenix.

Here are three keys to an Alabama victory on Saturday.