Alabama basketball to add marquee opponent, venue to 2025 nonconference schedule: report
Alabama basketball will reportedly head to The World's Most Famous Arena in 2025.
According to a report Thursday from college basketball insider Jon Rothstein, Nate Oats' Crimson Tide are finalizing an agreement with St. John's and legendary coach Rick Pitino to play at Madison Square Garden in New York. It will mark the first time an Alabama team has played at 'The Mecca' since 2013.
The game will reportedly take place on November 8, with St. John's expected to play Alabama in the 2026-27 season at Legacy Arena in Birmingham.
St. John's joins an already expansive list of nonconference opponents Alabama is set to face in the 2025-26 season. Oats already has games scheduled against the Illinois Fighting Illini in Chicago, North Dakota and Yale at Coleman Coliseum, and the Arizona Wildcats in Birmingham. The Crimson Tide will also make another trip to Las Vegas for the Players Era Festival and face an ACC school in the annual SEC-ACC Challenge.
St. John's went 31-5 overall last season and won the both the Big East Tournament and Big East regular season championship. They were a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament and were bounced in a second-round upset by John Calipari's Arkansas Razorbacks.
The Johnnies are a popular team in many way-too-early rankings ahead of 2025-26. Fox Sports recently ranked St. John's No. 2 in its early top 25, while ESPN's Jeff Borzello had them at No. 3 in his new rankings on Monday.
Alabama finished 28-9 last season and advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, falling 85-65 to Duke in the East Region final in Newark. The Crimson Tide were ranked No. 6 in the final USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, while St. John's was ranked No. 10.
The meeting between Alabama and St. John's will be the first between the two programs in over 40 years. They last met in the 1982 NCAA Tournament at Nassau Coliseum on Long Island with two legendary coaches squaring off. Wimp Sanderson's Crimson Tide defeated Lou Carnesecca's team, 69-68.
All-time, Alabama and St. John's have met four times on the hardwood dating back to 1955. The head-to-head series is split 2-2.
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