What in the world do you think you're doing right now, Nate Oats? On Thursday night, the Alabama Crimson Tide took care of business and they're officially headed to the Elite Eight. Coach Oats knows his team still needs to get better, however.
With that in mind, he wasted no time in calling out his players, saying they have to play better against Duke. Wait, what? Yup, at the time of the quote from Oats below, Duke vs. Arizona hadn't even tipped off yet. Despite that, Oats went ahead and assumed the Blue Devils were going to post a win? Goodness:
Nate Oats to CBS: "Obviously we're not gonna shoot it like that all the time. We got to lock in on defense. We had too many defensive screw-ups. We have to be better against Duke."
— Mike Rodak (@mikerodak) March 28, 2025
Duke fans will never forgive Nate Oats if he jinxes the Blue Devils vs. Arizona
As you might have been able to guess, this quote from Oats is going viral. On one hand, Alabama fans love the confidence. It doesn't matter who the Tide take on, Oats is going to have his guys ready to rock with a trip to the Final Four on the line.
However, Duke supporters aren't taking things the same way. A quick look on social media indeed shows that countless people aren't too thrilled with a potential jinx arriving. Imagine what people in Arizona are thinking too.
Caleb Love is looking like one of the best players in the tournament. He also knows what it takes to beat Duke, unfortunately, as his 3-pointer to lift UNC over the Blue Devils in the Final Four is still something that makes a lot of people in Durham sick to their stomach.
Soon enough, Duke and Arizona will be ready to settle things on the hardwood. Cooper Flagg and Co. will hope to make Oats look great with his far too early prediction, while Love and his teammates are hoping to make him eat his words. We can't wait to see how this one plays out.