Alabama is no doubt hoping this trip to Cleveland for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament turns out better than its last.
The Crimson Tide, second seed in the NCAA East Region, faces No. 15 Robert Morris on Friday at Rocket Arena, home of the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers. It’s the same city in which Alabama suffered one of its most-shocking tournament losses 19 years ago.
On March 17, 2005, fifth-seeded Alabama lost 83-73 to Wisconsin-Milwaukee at the Wolstein Center on the campus of Cleveland State University. It was a stunning first-round exit for coach Mark Gottfried and the Crimson Tide, who had reached the NCAA tournament Elite Eight the previous year.
Two days after recording its first NCAA tournament victory, UWM beat fourth-seeded Boston College to advance to the Sweet 16 before losing to top-seeded Illinois. The tournament run catapulted the Panthers’ coach into the national spotlight, landing him an SEC job the following season.
Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s head coach that day? Bruce Pearl
Pearl took the Tennessee job the following season, coaching the Volunteers to six NCAA tournament berths in six years. He landed at Auburn in 2014, and has led the Tigers to six NCAA tournaments, a Final Four in 2019 and the overall No. 1 seed this year.