Nate Oats didn’t just watch the Milwaukee Brewers win the World Series and move on. The Wisconsin native bought the championship gear.
That reaction says plenty about why Alabama’s coach saw more than a baseball story when the Brewers finished off the first title in franchise history last week. He saw a model for his own program - one built on execution, not excess.
“The Brewers were in the bottom third in Major League Baseball in budget,” Oats said. “We’re in a similar situation.
They won the World Series, you know. How do we win?”
Oats had already made the trip to Tampa Bay to watch the World Series before Alabama’s season began, and the comparison stuck with him. Milwaukee wasn’t some random underdog story.
The Brewers had been winning for a while - three straight 90-win playoff seasons and an NLCS trip last year - but had never taken the final step. Alabama’s recent run has looked a lot like that: No. 1 overall seed in 2023, a Final Four in 2024, four straight Sweet 16s, and still no national championship.
The financial gap is real in both places. Milwaukee swept the Dodgers in the National League Championship Series with a payroll that was less than half of Los Angeles’ star-heavy group.
Alabama, meanwhile, is working with a roster budget near the bottom of the SEC. That leaves the same basic question hanging over both teams: how do you beat programs that can spend so much more?
For Brewers manager Pat Murphy, the answer came in a postgame message that spread fast after the final out against the Tampa Bay Rays.
“Just remember when you were on that horses--- Yankees team and you guys were all playing for yourself? Just remember, say, 'This is the way we used to do it.'”
Murphy was talking to former Yankee Jake Bauers, and the point was simple even if the language wasn’t polished. The Brewers won by doing the little things, by playing together, by not relying on a payroll to carry them.
That idea has already been brought into Alabama’s locker room. Oats said he had his players talk through what it means to play the right way in basketball.
“I had our guys kind of list off what it means to play the right way in basketball,” Oats said. “Are you a good teammate?
What does that mean? You move the ball.
You set great screens. You’ve got a lot of 'Mudita.'
You’re really having vicarious joy in your teammate’s success. We’re looking at guys that move the ball, want to pass the ball?
They play for each other.”
Murphy offered another line after Milwaukee’s sweep of Los Angeles that fit the moment even better.
“They may have a bunch of Hall of Famers, but we’ve got a bunch of gamers. And the gamers won this week.”
That message lands in a college basketball landscape loaded with talent and money. Florida has three preseason All-SEC players.
Duke has future lottery picks and one of the offseason’s priciest portal additions. Illinois has a roster full of foreign talent that could hold its own with EuroBasket clubs.
Louisville, Kentucky and Texas Tech can spend freely and rebuild from scratch every year.
Alabama can’t do that. Oats knows it. So he showed his team the Brewers’ run before the season opener and made the lesson plain.
“That’s what’s going to have to separate these guys,” Oats said. “We’ve got really good guys, but you can be a good guy and not play the game of basketball the right way.
So, are they playing the right way? I think they all know what the right way is supposed to look like.”
Oats bought the Brewers’ championship gear. Now Alabama is trying to earn its own.
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Alabama Faces A Brutal LSU Warning Ahead Of Playoff Test
The buildup to Alabamas next test has turned into a warning label, and Joel Klatt is not sugarcoating it. In previewing the matchup with LSU, the Fox Sports analyst pointed to the Tigers pass rush and overall defensive play as the kind of pressure that can expose some of Alabamas recent issues on the ground, a concern that matters even more with the playoff picture tightening.
Klatt also leaned into LSUs recent momentum at quarterback, noting Sam Leavitts strong play, while the injury situation for both teams adds another layer to a game that already feels like a measuring stick. He went as far as to pick LSU to win, projecting a 30-17 final, which only sharpens the stakes for Alabama as it heads into a matchup where the margin for error looks thin. [Read more 🡒]