Alabama men’s basketball loss still talk of the town

The Crimson Tide men’s basketball team fell Friday to the San Diego State Aztecs in the NCAA Sweet 16. That information still stings.

“I could not believe it right off the bat,” said basketball fan David Sanford. “I saw it when it happened, but I still had a hard time believing we lost like we did.”

Needless to say, the 71-64 loss was unexpected and cut deep.

“Man, this is bogus,” Daniel Miller said. “We could have done better.”

The Alabama men’s basketball team was the No. 1 overall seed going into the tournament for the first time in program history. This is the ninth time the Crimson Tide has made it to the Sweet 16. They’ve only once advanced to the Elite Eight, in 2004. Fans were hoping this year would be the one.

“It was very disappointing,” Sanford said. “We really thought they’d do better. The other number ones didn’t do much better either, so it was an unusual tournament in some ways.”

Keith Acker and his wife Deborah go to all the home basketball games and even traveled to watch the team in Louisville.

“We were very disappointed,” Acker said. “We are very proud of them for winning the SEC, regular season and tournament. We did go to Nashville and watch them win the tournament and that was a whole lot more fun. After we lost, it was just a very depressing weekend. We stayed for the remainder of the weekend and went to the casino, so that was more pain and misery.”

Despite the disappointment, fans we spoke with are undeniably proud of this year’s team and already looking forward to next season.

“You win some, you lose some,” Miller said.

“But all in all, great basketball team, love our coach, look forward to next year,” Acker said.

“Anything can happen,” Sanford said. “You never know. The first upset was a number 16 team defeating a number one team. Anything can happen when it comes to March Madness.”

The Tide finished their season with an impressive overall record of 31 wins and only six losses.