What Nate Oats said about Hofstra after NCAA Tournament bracket reveal

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On Sunday night, the Alabama Crimson Tide learned that they would be facing the Hofstra Pride in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament.

An opponent which Alabama has never faced before, Hofstra is a member of the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), and come into March Madness as the Midwest Region's No. 13 seed after winning their conference tournament. The Pride also own a 24-10 overall (12-6 CAA) record this season.

Following the NCAA Tournament selection show Sunday night, Alabama head coach Nate Oats spoke to the media about the Crimson Tide's draw in March Madness. In this, Oats also shared some initial thoughts on Hofstra, along with some potential challenges the Pride could potentially present.

"Love the Friday in Tampa draw," Oats said. "Hofstra's good. I can't say I love the draw. Obviously they have very good guards. They had (Aaron) Estrada, who took us to a Final Four. They've got two very good guards again. I think Cruz Davis is one of the best mid-major guards in the country. I watched their championship game against Monmouth. I think Speedy Claxton is one of the better mid-major coaches in the country, and I'm sure he'll be brought up this offseason for jobs to move up. He's done an unbelievable job. He does a really good job of getting good players in there and developing them. He's got two now. I think Cruz is the player of the year in that conference, and I think the freshman, Preston Edmead, that kid's good, I think he was the freshman of the year."

"They don't play that fast, they kind of control tempo, but they're Top 40 in three-point percentage, borderline Top 100 in three-point rate," Oats added. "They get a decent amount of three's up. They're good on both sides of the ball, Top 100 in offensive and defensive adjusted efficiency on KenPom. Their effective field goal percentage is borderline Top 50 on defense, and it's hard to do that at that level. Their two-point percentage defense is pretty good too, so this is a good team. They're third in the country in two-point percentage defense. This team is good. We're going to have to play a lot better than we did Friday night in Nashville."

The Crimson Tide and Pride are set to meet in the NCAA Tournament first round this upcoming Friday, March 20, at 3:15 p.m. ET on truTV. A matchup of the No. 4 and No. 13 seeds in the Midwest Region, the game will be played at Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Florida.

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This article originally appeared on Roll Tide Wire: What Alabama coach Nate Oats said about Hofstra entering March Madness

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