Nate Oats, Bruce Pearl turnarounds at Alabama, Auburn: Records, titles, more for coaches
Nate Oats and Bruce Pearl have achieved two of the best turnarounds in college basketball in recent years, and it just so happens that they coach at archrival programs.
Oats, at Alabama, and Pearl, at Auburn, face off on Saturday in a battle between No. 1 and No. 2 in the Paste BN Sports Coaches Poll. The No. 1 Crimson Tide host the No. 2 Tigers at Coleman Coliseum in one of the most-anticipated games of the season between two of the top national championship contenders. The teams' rankings are inverted in the AP Top 25, making this a meeting of the consensus top two teams and a rare meeting of No. 1 teams.
It wasn't so easy for the two programs to reach this stage, especially since they traditionally are more successful in football. Both coaches went through some struggles before they each led their programs to their first Final Four appearances ever.
Alabama and Auburn each have just one loss in SEC play this season, although the conference has been considered the best in college basketball in 2024-25. Some have even called the SEC one of the best conferences ever in 2025.
Here's a look at how Oats and Pearl both achieved huge turnarounds since taking over at Alabama and Auburn, respectively:
Nate Oats turnaround at Alabama
Oats took over for Avery Johnson ahead of the 2019-20 season, after the Crimson Tide had missed the NCAA Tournament in three of their previous four seasons. Oats finished 16-15 in his first season in Tuscaloosa, but soon turned Alabama around after that.
Oats led the Crimson Tide to a first-place finish in the SEC regular season standings, being picked as a No. 2 seed in the 2021 NCAA Tournament. They made it to the Sweet 16 before falling to No. 11 seed UCLA, who made a Cinderella run to the Final Four that season.
Oats helped turn Herb Jones into the SEC Player of the Year in his second season at the helm before Jones turned into a second-round pick and an eventual All-NBA defender. Oats also had a successful first recruiting class, landing Josh Primo, who was a first-round pick, and Keon Ellis, who's now a key member of the Sacramento Kings.
After Oats and Alabama made the Sweet 16 in 2020-21, the program found momentum and was able to recruit high-end players to Tuscaloosa, with Oats eventually landing five-star Brandon Miller, who was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft, behind only Victor Wembanyama. Oats also excelled at finding talent in the transfer portal, as current starters Mark Sears and Grant Nelson came from Ohio and North Dakota State, respectively.
Alabama has reached a point of being one of the best current programs in college basketball, as Oats landed the No. 2-ranked class in 2024, led by five-star Derrion Reid and four-stars Aiden Sherrell, Labaron Philon and Naas Cunningham. He also signed Cliff Omoruyi, Aden Holloway, Chris Youngblood and Houston Mallette from the transfer portal, who were all four-star transfer prospects and have each played key roles on the 2024-25 roster.
Overall, Oats has found tremendous success by pairing his elite recruiting chops with a style of basketball that is predicated on scoring, as the 2024-25 team ranks first nationally averaging 90.5 points per game.
Oats has taken Alabama to the NCAA Tournament in four of his five seasons prior to this year, reaching the Sweet 16 in 2021 and 2023 and the Final Four — its first ever — in 2024.
Bruce Pearl turnaround at Auburn
Pearl took over at Auburn in 2014, five months before his show-cause order was over from his time at Tennessee, where he was fired for lying to the NCAA about recruiting violations that barred him from coaching for three years.
Pearl was able to turn around the Tigers just like he did the Vols, though it did take time. He made his first NCAA Tournament berth in his fourth season after starting with three losing seasons (including a 6-14 record in 2016-17 that saw the Tigers vacate 12 wins).
Auburn made the second round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament, then the 2019 Final Four.
The following year, Auburn was primed for another strong postseason run after finishing the regular season at 25-6 and tied for second in the SEC regular season standings. However, the NCAA Tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Auburn missed the NCAA tournament the following season then due to a self-imposed ban from the postseason after former assistant coach Chuck Person accepted bribes in exchange for using his influence on steering Auburn players toward certain financial advisors.
Since the postseason ban, however, Pearl has led Auburn to three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances after strong regular seasons, although the Tigers haven't surpassed the first weekend in those three years. Auburn was upset by Miami in 2022 and Yale in 2024, despite being a 2 seed and 4 seed in both seasons, respectively.
Pearl, like Oats, has done a nice job in high school recruiting and the transfer portal, landing former five-star Jabari Smith, who was the No. 3 pick in 2022. He also landed Johni Broome, one of the top contenders for player of the year this season, from Morehead State. He also has added former first-round pick center Walker Kessler from North Carolina.
Since his tenure at Tennessee, perhaps Pearl's best trait has been hyping up the fanbase and communicating with the student body, as Pearl has played a huge role in making Auburn basketball a show with high fan turnout. Auburn has had one of the best crowds in college basketball for multiple seasons in a row, with students camping out for seats prior to games.
He has also fostered a hard-nosed culture, even calling out his team after feeling they lost an edge once reaching the No. 1 ranking in the polls this season.
Prior to Pearl arriving at Auburn, the Tigers had finished with a losing record in five consecutive seasons. Auburn had also only made the NCAA tournament three times since 1990 before Pearl turned around the program.
Nate Oats record
Here's a look at Oats' year-by-year overall and conference record at Alabama:
- 2019-20: 16-15 (8-10)
- 2020-21: 26-7 (16-2) | Sweet 16
- 2021-22: 19-14 (9-9) | First round
- 2022-23: 31-6 (16-2) | Sweet 16
- 2023-24: 25-12 (13-5) | Final Four
- 2024-25: 21-3 (10-1)
Bruce Pearl record
Here's a look at Pearl's year-by-year record at Auburn:
- 2014-15: 15-20 (4-14)
- 2015-16: 11-20 (5-13)
- 2016-17: 6-14* (0-11)*
- 2017-18: 26-8 (13-5) | Second round
- 2018-19: 30-10 (11-7) | Final Four
- 2019-20: 25-6 (12-6) | NCAA Tournament canceled
- 2020-21: 13-14 (7-11) | Ineligible
- 2021-22: 26-6 (15-3) | Second round
- 2022-23: 21-13 (10-8) | Second round
- 2023-24: 27-8 (13-5) | First round
- 2024-25: 22-2 (10-1)
*Wins vacated due to Person investigation
Nate Oats SEC championships
Here's a look at the years in which Oats has led a regular-season or conference tournament championship at Alabama:
- 2020-21: SEC regular-season and conference tournament champions
- 2022-23: SEC regular-season and conference tournament champions
Bruce Pearl SEC championships
Here are the seasons Pearl has led Auburn to regular-season or conference tournament championships:
- 2017-18: SEC regular-season champions
- 2018-19: SEC Tournament champions
- 2021-22: SEC regular-season champions
- 2023-24: SEC Tournament champions