Clemson Men’s Basketball vs Alabama: How to watch, odds, prediction for March Madness Elite 8
The biggest game for Clemson Men's Basketball in the last 44 years will happen tonight. Here is all the info you need to know before the game.
By John Chancey
Clemson Men’s Basketball will play in the Elite 8 tonight for the first time since 1980. Since events like this only come around every half-century or so, it’s a big deal.
In an odd twist of fate, the Tigers will face one of their rivals, the Alabama Crimson Tide. The only caveat is that these two usually square off on the gridiron, not the hardwood.
Here is all you need to know about tonight’s West Region Championship.
What: Clemson Tigers vs Alabama Crimson Tide
When: 8:49 PM Eastern time.
Where: crypto.com Arena (formerly the Staples Center) in Los Angeles, California.
How to watch/listen: The game will be broadcast on TBS. It will be available for streaming through the NCAA March Madness app. Audio will be available on-air with WCCP 105.5 /97.5 The ROAR. Streaming audio will be available via The Varsity Network app.
If you don’t have any of these options, you can click this link to gain access through FUBO.
Jerseys: Alabama is the higher seed and will wear white. Clemson will wear road jerseys, which have been orange so far in this tournament, but you never know when they could throw a curveball.
Odds: FanDuel presently has Alabama installed as a 3.5-point favorite. The over/under on points is set at 164.5.
What should you know about Alabama: They are a fast-paced offense that can border on too fast at times. Read more here.
Prediction for Clemson Men’s Basketball vs Alabama
Clemson has a lot of momentum right now. They have barely trailed in any of their three victories over New Mexico, Baylor, or Arizona.
Alabama has been a bit up and down. They played well in their opening-round game against the College of Charleston but weren’t nearly as efficient against Grand Canyon. They turned it around and played very well against an experienced North Carolina team.
The Crimson Tide emerged victorious from the Grand Canyon game because GCU plays the same style as Alabama, and the Tide were simply more talented. Clemson’s game plan will likely be to combat Bama’s fast pace by slowing things down.
We heard head coach Brad Brownell tell his players several times to slow down their attack against New Mexico. I think this strategy will work on one condition: the Tigers must be hyper-vigilant to get back on defense as quickly as possible. The Tide likes to catch opponents off-guard on the transition.
To accomplish this, Clemson will need their bench to be contributors. They weren’t always factors during the regular season, but they have played well during the NCAA Tournament, especially RJ Godfrey and Chauncey Wiggins.
If all things were equal, I would lean towards Clemson to win this game. They have the inside presence to mitigate Grant Nelson, their guards have the ability to keep up with Alabama’s guards and I think they will be prepared with a better game plan.
You heard me: Brad Brownell will have a better game plan and better in-game coaching than Nate Oates.
Things are not all equal, however, for one big reason: I have yet to pick Clemson once in this tournament and I am not about to start now. Therefore I am placing a big old Kiss of Death on the Crimson Tide.
Alabama to cover, and I’ll take the over on the point total (I’ve been wrong about that every time too).
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