Updated March 26, 2026, 11:06 p.m. ET

Nate Oats’ Alabama Crimson Tide will face their toughest task of March Madness on Friday night in Chicago when they meet the Michigan Wolverines in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

Alabama (25-9), ranked No. 18 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll and AP Top 25 poll, soared past Texas Tech in a 90-65 blowout on Sunday night in Tampa behind 19 3-pointers. Latrell Wrightsell scored 24 points and made six of his nine 3-point attempts to lead the Crimson Tide in a rout they led by 26 points in the first half.

Houston Mallette scored 15 points off five 3-pointers, and Amari Allen (12 points) and Aiden Sherrell (10 points) also finished in double figures for Alabama. The Crimson Tide led by as many as 34 in the second half. Labaron Philon had nine points but finished with a career-high 12 assists.

Michigan (33-3), ranked No. 3 in the top 25 polls, opened the tournament by notching back-to-back wins over Howard and Saint Louis by 20-plus points. Wolverines star Yaxel Lendeborg, the team’s leading scorer this season at 14.7 points per game, had a game-high 25 in Michigan’s 95-72 second-round victory over Saint Louis.

Alabama is making its fourth straight appearance in the Sweet 16 and its fifth in six years, but can the Crimson Tide advance to the Elite Eight for a third consecutive year?

Need a news break? Check out the all new PLAY hub with puzzles, games and more!Will Alabama beat Michigan in NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 showdown?

Ahead of Alabama-Michigan, ESPN analytics offered its outlook for Friday’s game.

ESPN’s matchup predictor, which offers a prediction model based on its college basketball power index (BPI) and other variables, gives Alabama only a 27.4% chance to win and Michigan a 72.6% chance.

Alabama is 14th nationally in ESPN’s BPI, up two spots from last week. The Tide have an overall rating of 18.4. The metrics give Alabama a 12.6 rating on offense, which is No. 3 nationally behind Purdue and Illinois, and a 5.9 rating on defense that’s 41st nationally and up 10 spots from last week.

Michigan is No. 2 in BPI and trails only Duke. The Wolverines have a 24.1 overall rating. The metrics give coach Dusty May’s team a 12.2 rating on offense, which is fifth nationally, and a 12.0 rating on defense that’s third in the country.

What is ESPN College Basketball Power Index (BPI)?

ESPN explains of its basketball power index and game predictions:

“The College Basketball Power Index (BPI) is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of performance going forward. BPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Strength of Record (SOR) is a measure of team accomplishment based on how difficult a team’s W-L record is to achieve. Game predictions account for opponent strength, pace of play, site, travel distance, day’s rest and altitude, and are used to simulate the season 10,000 times to produce season projections. Numbers update daily.”

Start time, TV channel, announcers for Alabama vs. Michigan basketball

Tipoff for Alabama-Michigan is 6:35 p.m. CT Friday at United Center in Chicago. Andrew Catalon will have the play-by-play call of the game with Steve Lappas providing color commentary. Evan Washburn will report from the sidelines. The game will be televised on TBS and truTV.

The Crimson Tide Sports Radio Network feed of the game, featuring Alabama play-by-play voice Chris Stewart and analyst Bryan Passink, can be heard on The Varsity app. Additionally, the national radio call of Alabama-Michigan can be heard on Westwood One, as well as SiriusXM channel 202.

Alabama basketball 2025-2026 schedule, results

Here’s a game by game look at Alabama’s 2025-26 men’s basketball schedule.

Regular season:

Nov. 3: vs. North Dakota (W, 91-62)Nov. 8: at St. John’s (W, 103-96)Nov. 13: vs. Purdue (L, 87-80)Nov. 19: vs. Illinois (W, 90-86)Nov. 24: vs. Gonzaga (L, 95-85)Nov. 25: vs. UNLV (W, 115-76)Nov. 26: vs. Maryland (W, 105-72)Dec. 3: vs. Clemson (W, 90-84)Dec. 7: vs. UTSA (W, 97-55)Dec. 13: vs. Arizona (L, 96-75)Dec. 17: vs. South Florida (W, 104-93)Dec. 21: vs. Kennesaw State (W, 92-81)Dec. 29: vs. Yale (W, 102-78)Jan. 3: vs. Kentucky (W, 89-74)Jan. 7: at Vanderbilt (L, 96-90)Jan. 10: vs. Texas (L, 92-88)Jan. 13: at Mississippi State (W, 97-82)Jan. 17: at Oklahoma (W, 83-81)Jan. 24: vs. Tennessee (L, 79-73)Jan. 27: vs. Missouri (W, 90-64)Feb. 1: at Florida (L, 100-77)Feb. 4: vs. Texas A&M (W, 100-97)Feb. 7: at Auburn (W, 96-92)Feb. 11: at Ole Miss (W, 93-74)Feb. 14: vs. South Carolina (W, 89-75)Feb. 18: vs. Arkansas (W, 117-115, 2OT)Feb. 21: at LSU (W, 90-83)Feb. 25: vs. Mississippi State (W, 100-75)Feb. 28: at Tennessee (W, 71-69)March 3: at Georgia (L, 98-88)March 7: vs. Auburn (W, 96-84)

SEC Tournament

March 13: vs. Ole Miss (L, 80-79)

NCAA Tournament

March 20: vs. Hofstra (W, 90-70)March 22: vs. Texas Tech (W, 90-65)March: 27: vs. Michigan, 6:35 p.m., TBS/truTV

Record: 25-9.

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