NIL
Alabama Crimson Tide NIL Collective Planning Massive Game with St. John’s in MSG
The Alabama Crimson Tide has been out to prove that it is more than just a football school of late, and the university’s official Name, Image, and Likeness collective, Yeah Alabama, has announced that the basketball program is working toward scheduling a game on the biggest of stages. The game is expected to take place […]
The Alabama Crimson Tide has been out to prove that it is more than just a football school of late, and the university’s official Name, Image, and Likeness collective, Yeah Alabama, has announced that the basketball program is working toward scheduling a game on the biggest of stages.
The game is expected to take place on November 8, and see the Tide take on the St. John’s Red Storm at Madison Square Garden. It is expected to be the most anticipated non-conference matchup of the 2025-26 season.
Alabama is coming off a 28-9 campaign and their second trip to the Elite Eight in as many years, and the Red Storm is coming off a 30-4 record in their second season under head coach Rick Pitino.
The Crimson Tide is more of a recent college basketball power, while St. John’s’s heyday came nearly 50 years ago, but could be returning soon.
The two teams last met in 1982 and have played to a 2-2 record against each other. The matchup in November will see two of the game’s elite coaches facing off, Nate Oats and Pitino, and could be an early preview of a potential tournament matchup. While both teams were in the 2024-25 NCAA Tournament, they could not have faced each other before the National Championship game.
Alabama will lose several of their key players to the NBA draft this summer, and suffered many blows in the transfer portal. Instead of resting on his laurals, Oats also attacked the transfer portal, bringing in standouts such as Jalil Bethea, Noah Williamson, and Taylor Bol Bowen, while also expecting three incoming four-star freshman. The Tide is expected to be in the National Championship chase.
For the Red Storm, they are expected to be a frontrunner in the coming season. Pitino and his staff have been no strangers to working the portal and landed coveted talent the likes of Ian Jackson and Bryce Hopkins, to go along with returning star center Zuby Ejiofor.
If the deal comes together as planned, and all of the stars are able to take the court, it is destined to be an entertaining affair for the masses at The Garden.