The Alabama Crimson Tide have their sights set on another deep run in the tournament. But deep down, they know and have admitted that they need to play better if that's going to happen, That starts with beating the BYU Cougars and using one of their strengths to do so...

Tide looking to "out-athlete" the Cougars

"You can't give them threes," Alabama HC Oats said on Hey Coach with Rob Vaughn. "They take a lot of threes. They make a lot of threes. You got to get them off the three point line. I do think we're more athletic than them at spots, and we got to use that to our advantage, but we're gonna have to play well." It's going to be a stylistic clash on Thursday night, as the Tide, who like to run up and down the court and use their physical traits to win, take on a slower-paced BYU team, who while offensively brilliant, like to make their money beyond the arch. And the Tide, while capable, have struggled to do the same so far in the tournament. That may need to change. Two's can't keep up with three's, meaning either the team will need to continue their staunch defense that allowed them to take down St. Mary's, or they will have to make some deep ones of their own. "Lot of good teams not playing anymore," Oats said. "Fortunate to be in the spot we are. We've got a good group of kids that stepped up to the challenge. ... We're in pretty good company as far as making Sweet 16s here lately, but we still got work to do. We made a Final Four last year. We're trying to get back and go further. We have two very good teams -- whoever ends up coming from the other side -- in front of us still, so we've got to get locked in here this weekend." Oats knows what his team is capable of, but when you get to the second weekend of March Madness, everyone is good. The Tide are just hoping to prove their elite. "We've got a really good team in BYU in front of us," added Oats. "We're gonna have to play really well to beat them."