College basketball crowned a new champion Monday night. The Michigan Wolverines defeated the UConn Huskies, 69-63, to take home the 2026 Men’s NCAA Basketball Championship after a dominant run through March Madness — a run that included a 90-77 win over Nate Oats’ Alabama Crimson Tide.

The Crimson Tide were one of the only teams that managed to play a star-studded Wolverines team close, and they were the only team to actually lead Michigan at halftime. Alabama doesn’t celebrate moral victories, though, and the Tide’s loss in the Sweet 16 isn’t an exception.

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Despite some ups and downs, Alabama still managed to have another good season under Oats. The Crimson Tide made the Sweet 16 for the fifth time in the past six seasons. Athletic Director Greg Byrne also locked Oats in for the future by making him one of the five highest-paid coaches in the sport.

Alabama finished 25-10 overall and 13-5 in SEC play.

With the Wolverines giving the Big Ten its first national championship in men’s basketball since 2000, and the Big Ten securing its third major sports championship this calendar year, here’s a look at who finished behind Michigan in the final USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll for the 2025-26 season.

Alabama outside top 10 in final men’s basketball Coaches Poll

In the final Coaches Poll, unveiled on Tuesday, the Crimson Tide are ranked No. 16. They rose two spots from where they’d been ranked entering the NCAA Tournament.

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Alabama is one of six SEC schools ranked in the final poll. Florida led the way at No. 9 despite its stunning second-round loss to Iowa, and Tennessee was No. 12 after reaching the Elite Eight. Arkansas finished No. 13. Vanderbilt was one spot behind Alabama at No. 17, and Texas bookended the rankings for SEC schools at No. 24.

Rank

Team

Record

PTS

1st

Prev

Chg

Hi/Lo

1

Michigan

37-3

775

31

3

2

1/7

2

UConn

34-6

737

0

7

5

2/7

3

Arizona

36-3

713

0

2

1

1/13

4

Duke

35-3

668

0

1

3

1/6

5

Illinois

28-9

654

0

12

7

5/19

6

Houston

30-7

586

0

5

1

2/8

7

Purdue

30-9

562

0

13

6

1/18

8

Iowa State

29-8

520

0

6

2

2/18

9

Florida

27-8

497

0

4

5

3/NR

10

St. John’s

30-7

491

0

9

1

6/NR

11

Michigan State

27-8

465

0

11

–

8/21

12

Tennessee

25-12

390

0

25

13

12/NR

13

Arkansas

28-9

387

0

15

2

13/23

14

Nebraska

28-7

369

0

14

–

5/NR

15

Virginia

30-6

294

0

8

7

8/NR

16

Alabama

25-10

292

0

18

2

9/NR

17

Vanderbilt

27-9

289

0

16

1

8/NR

18

Gonzaga

31-4

286

0

10

8

5/20

19

Iowa

24-13

277

0

NR

–

19/NR

20

Kansas

24-11

219

0

17

3

9/NR

21

Texas Tech

23-11

168

0

19

2

10/21

22

Miami (FL)

26-9

94

0

23

1

22/NR

23

Louisville

24-11

70

0

24

1

5/NR

24

Texas

21-15

55

0

NR

–

24/NR

25

Wisconsin

24-11

42

0

20

5

20/NR

Schools Dropped Out

No. 21 North Carolina; No. 22 Saint Mary’s;

Others Receiving Votes

Utah State 37; Saint Louis 30; UCLA 28; North Carolina 28; Saint Mary’s 16; Miami (OH) 9; BYU 8; High Point 7; Villanova 4; UCF 3; Kentucky 3; VCU 2;

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List Of Voters

The USA TODAY Sports Board of Coaches is made up of 31 head coaches at Division I institutions. All are members of the National Association of Basketball Coaches. The board for the 2025-26 season: Adrian Autry, Syracuse; John Becker, Vermont; Randy Bennett, Saint Mary’s; Jeff Boals, Ohio; Alvin Brooks, Lamar; Pat Chambers, Florida Gulf Coast; Scott Drew, Baylor; Dan Earl, Chattanooga; Jonas Hayes, Georgia State; Donte’ Jackson, Alabama A&M; Ben Jacobson, Northern Iowa; James Jones, Yale; Greg Kampe, Oakland; Eric Konkol, Tulsa; Brad Korn, Southeast Missouri State; Anthony Latina, Sacred Heart; Jim Les, UC Davis; Greg McDermott, Creighton; Nick McDevitt, Middle Tennessee; Mike McGarvey, Lafayette; Dan Monson, Eastern Washington; Chris Mooney, Richmond; Mike Morrell, UNC Asheville; Nate Oats, Alabama; Eric Olen, New Mexico; Matt Painter, Purdue; Paul Sather, North Dakota; Patrick Sellers, Central Connecticut State; Zach Spiker, Drexel; Brett Tanner, Abilene Christian; Stan Waterman, Delaware State.

Follow us at @RollTideWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook, for ongoing coverage of Alabama Crimson Tide news, notes and opinions.

This article originally appeared on Roll Tide Wire: Alabama basketball’s ranking in final USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll