On Tuesday, Alabama Men's Basketball head coach Nate Oats announced that his team will face off against Memphis each of the next three seasons.

In a press release issued by the university, "the series will begin with a charity exhibition game to open the 2020-21 season. That game, which will take place on either Oct. 31 or Nov. 1, will be played at Memphis inside the FedExForum, home of the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies. The exhibition is being played as a goodwill gesture to raise funds for relief efforts associated with the 2020 global pandemic.

The two teams will then play regular season match ups the following two seasons. Memphis will travel to Tuscaloosa in 2021-22 and the Tide return the favor by going to Memphis in 2022-23."

The Crimson Tide and Tigers have played a total of eight games against one another, with Memphis owning a 5-3 edge in the all-time series. However, Alabama has captured three of the last four meetings in the series including an 82-70 victory in the most recent contest between the teams which took place on Nov. 10, 2017 in the Veterans Classic in Annapolis, Md.

While in his second season at Memphis, Penny Hardaway led the Tigers to a 21-10 overall record and 10-8 record in the American Athletic Conference before the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Oats first season at the helm of the Crimson Tide, Alabama had an up and down year that resulted in a 16-15 record before being cut short due to the pandemic. Things do look promising as Alabama currently has the number 12 recruiting class in the country for 2020.

With both programs being led by head coaches that are still trying to establish themselves on a national stage, these games can be major NCAA tournament seeding matchups.

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