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No. 4 seed Alabama will face off against No. 1 seed Carolina in the Sweet 16 on Thursday night in Los Angeles. The Crimson Tide finished third in the SEC regular-season standings and defeated No. 13 seed College of Charleston and No. 12 seed Grand Canyon in the opening two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. Alabama was the No. 1 overall seed in the 2023 field, but fell in the Sweet 16 to eventual national runners-up San Diego State. If you aren't familiar with the Tide, here's a quick rundown: Head coach: Nate Oats. Oats is in his fifth season in Tuscaloosa and has led Alabama to four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. Before coaching the Tide, Oats spent four seasons with Buffalo in the Mid-American Conference. There, Oats transformed the Bulls into one of the best mid-major programs in the country, reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament in consecutive seasons. Now, he's aiming to help Alabama reach its first Elite Eight since 2004. Alabama head coach Nate Oats disputes a call with an official during the first half of a second-round college basketball game against Grand Canyon in the NCAA Tournament in Spokane, Wash., Sunday, March 24, 2024. (Image via Associated Press/Young Kwak) What's the history? Since the 1949-50 season, Carolina and Alabama have met 11 times, with the Tar Heels holding a 6-5 edge. Three of those instances came in the NCAA Tournament: the Crimson Tide ousted Carolina in the first round in 1976, but UNC emerged victorious in the Sweet 16 in 1982 (on its way to a national title) and in the second round in 1992. The latter win was the final of Hubert Davis' collegiate career. Alabama won the most recent meeting between the two sides in unforgettable fashion: a four-overtime marathon at the Phil Knight Invitational in Oregon in 2022. Player to watch: Mark Sears. A first team All-SEC honoree, consensus second team All-American and finalist for the Bob Cousy Award (given to the nation's top point guard), Sears is the Tide's leading scorer at 21.5 points per game. The senior has carried Alabama through the home stretch of the season, scoring at least 20 points in each of the past eight games and reaching 30 twice in that same span. He scored 26 in Alabama's second-round win against Grand Canyon and played 39 of a possible 40 minutes. Sears is a deadly three-point shooter, coming in with a 43.5 percent mark from downtown. The Tar Heels should know that better than anyone: in the four-overtime game last season, Sears shot 7-11 on threes and scored 24 points. Alabama guard Mark Sears (1) gestures after scoring a 3-point basket during the second half of a second-round college basketball game against Grand Canyon in the NCAA Tournament in Spokane, Wash., Sunday, March 24, 2024. (Image via Associated Press/Young Kwak) Stats to watch: Alabama's calling card is its offense, and for good reason. The Crimson Tide rank first in Division 1 with 90.7 points per game and also rank first in adjusted offensive efficiency on KenPom.com. Eight different Alabama players average at least five points per game (UNC has six such players), and four of those eight shoot at least 37 percent on three-pointers. Alabama has reached the 100-point mark 10 times this season and is undefeated when doing so. The Crimson Tide are one of just two teams remaining in the field who play at a faster pace than Carolina, according to KenPom.com. The website ranks Alabama as the eighth-fastest team in Division 1. And with all that running comes a whole lot of shooting: the Tide take 30 threes per game (fourth-most in Division 1) and nearly 65 total shots per game (seventh). Five Alabama players have taken at least 100 threes this season, and two more have taken at least 90. But the offense can only be effective when those shots go down, and Alabama's metrics are excellent: 57.4 percent on twos (12th in Division 1) and 36.7 percent on threes (18th). Even the Tide's free throw numbers are outstanding: they go to the line 23 times per game (21st in Division 1) and shoot 77.6 percent as a team (17th). Everything they do with the basketball they do efficiently. The same cannot be said of Alabama's defense, which is the only one remaining in the tournament to rank outside the top 100 on KenPom.com in adjusted efficiency. The Tide allow 81 points per game, 355th (also known as eighth-worst) in Division 1. Opponents have scored 100 against Alabama three times in the last eight games, including a whopping 117 by Kentucky on February 24. The Tide lost all three of those games. It's less a matter of percentages (Alabama's two-point defense is merely mediocre, and its three-point defense actually ranks in the nation's top 50) and more a matter of volume: Oats' team plays so fast that scoring opportunities will abound on both sides. A local connection: Alabama features a former local phenom: freshman forward Jarin Stevenson, who starred at Seaforth High School in Pittsboro. He was ranked as a four-star prospect by 247 Sports and heavily recruited by Hubert Davis and the Tar Heels as part of the 2024 recruiting class. But Stevenson ultimately chose to reclassify up a year and commit to Alabama for the 2023-24 season. Stevenson is averaging 16.6 minutes and 5.2 points per game as one of the Tide's top reserves. What are the odds? As of Monday afternoon, UNC is a 3.5-point favorite in the game. Carolina is 27-6 as the betting favorite this season. For more information on how to watch the game, click here. Featured image via Associated Press/Ted S. 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