Alabama

Alabama

The Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team represents the University of Alabama in NCAA Division I men's basketball. The program plays in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). In the conference it trails only long-time basketball powerhouse Kentucky in SEC tournament titles, is third behind Kentucky and Arkansas in wins, and is also third behind Kentucky and LSU in SEC regular season conference titles. Alabama was retroactively recognized as the pre-NCAA Tournament national champion for the 1929–30 season by the Premo-Porretta Power Poll.

The men's basketball program has spent most of its history in the shadow of Alabama's football team, but has risen in stature over the past several decades. Under former coach Mark Gottfried, the team achieved a No. 1 national ranking briefly in 2003, and competed for an NCAA Regional Tournament Championship in 2004. The program was notable as a regular conference basketball contender in the 1980s and early 1990s under the direction of coach Wimp Sanderson and in the 1970s under coach C. M. Newton. Alabama has eight NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearances. In the 2003–04 season, the team defeated #1-seeded Stanford in the NCAA Tournament, and reached the Elite Eight round where they lost to the eventual national champion, Connecticut.

Coleman Coliseum

Coleman Coliseum is a 15,383-seat multi-purpose arena in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on the campus of the University of Alabama. It is the current home of the Alabama Crimson Tide men's and women's basketball and women's gymnastics teams, and previously served as the home of the women's volleyball program. Opened in 1968 as Memorial Coliseum as a replacement for Foster Auditorium (the current name was adopted in 1988), the coliseum is located at the center of the University of Alabama's athletic complex, which also includes Sewell-Thomas Stadium, Sam Bailey Track & Field Stadium, the Hank Crisp Indoor Facility, the Mal M. Moore Athletic Facility and the football building and practice fields.

In addition to its primary duties as an athletic facility, the coliseum has on numerous occasions served as a venue for artistic performances, musical concerts, and presidential appearances.