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Alabama Tries To Regain Winning Form In NIT

By Randy Patrick Sports

Published: Tue, March 13, 2007 - 5:03 am

Randy Patrick

The last time Alabama made the National Invitation Tournament, the Crimson Tide went on a run that proved a springboard for future success. The Tide went all the way to the N-I-T championship game at Madison Square Garden with a freshman-heavy lineup in 2001, and Mark Gottfried's next team started a five-year string of N-C-double-A tournament appearances. Alabama (20-and-11) is a long-shot for a repeat performance. The fifth-seeded Tide won't have home-court advantage when it starts the N-I-T tomorrow night at Number Four seed Massachusetts (23-and-8), and is plagued by injury problems. But Gottfried does hope his team can use the tournament to build for next season. For the Minutemen, making the N-I-T is a step forward not backward. U-Mass hasn't made the postseason since going to the N-I-T in 2000. U-Mass shared the regular-season Atlantic Ten title with Xavier, but lost in the first round of the league tournament to Saint Louis. Alabama was in the hunt for a share of the Southeastern Conference Western Division title until the league's final regular-season game, a loss to Mississippi State. The Tide fell to Kentucky in the S-E-C tournament's opening round. Both teams are hoping for better luck as the N-I-T kicks off.