Last year's Alabama men's basketball season was one that many Tide fans will never forget. While the Tide were picked to finish high in the final SEC standings, they weren't picked to win the regular or SEC Tournament titles.

Alabama won both and made it to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament before being knocked out by UCLA. Expectations are now higher than ever for the Tide.

Head coach of the Tide, Nate Oats, joined Tide 100.9's Ryan Fowler to talk about how his team is moving along before the season. Oats understands what fans of Alabama Basketball will want this upcoming season.

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Oats however expects the same from his team in terms of success this season. When asked, Oats responded:

"I think we should be competing for an SEC Championship, it's gonna be hard to repeat what we did last year." Oats elaborated further: "I think we should be an NCAA Tournament team that should make another run again."

The Tide's schedule will be tough, but Coach Oats helped put it together. He understands the challenge that awaits the Tide.

"We set the series up with Gonzaga, who's kind of a consensus preseason number one, we added Houston, Houston had been on it last year, we weren't able to play..." Oats discussed. "We've got 3 of last year's Final Four teams in our nonconference."

Because the Tide quickly turned things around, Many wonder if Alabama is ahead of schedule. Oats himself believes they are making good progress.

"Sweep the regular season and the conference tournament both in year 2 is probably more than what most people predicted. I don't say we're shocked though." Oats continued. "Maybe a little ahead of schedule, but I had high expectations for the program."

For more interviews like this, visit the Tide 100.9 Soundcloud.

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