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This is an opinion column. _____________________ The bracket supports the bias. They say the Sweet 16 is the beginning of a new tournament. Hopefully that's true for Alabama. The Crimson Tide played five teams still alive in the NCAA Tournament. Against teams still dancing this March, the Crimson Tide is 0-6 this season. Not great. Alabama has no chance against North Carolina, in other words, so let's just get that out of the way first. That's the prevailing theme here at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, host metropolis of Nick Saban's final game as coach of the Alabama football team and now, a few months later, the city where Alabama basketball will take on blue-blooded North Carolina on Thursday in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. Alabama wasn't playing up to its potential at the end of the regular season and then went out early in the SEC tournament. After everything we've seen, though, I'm not so sure this is the same Alabama team that stepped meekly into the NCAA Tournament. Put it this way. Has North Carolina played a game in this NCAA Tournament anywhere close to Alabama's Throw Down of the Second Round? Not even close. Advantage Alabama? Maybe so. RELATED: Can Alabama basketball stop UNC's Armando Bacot? RELATED: Updated status on Alabama's Latrell Wrightsell There was Alabama before that doggedly physical game against Grand Canyon and there is Alabama after surviving that fight to the death. For Alabama to have a chance at the upset against North Carolina, that statement of hope needs to be closer to a transformative fact. No one here thinks Alabama is going to be around for long, but the underdog role might suit this team perfectly after its no-holds-barred battle in the Round of 32. Game time for four-seed Alabama (23-11) and one-seed North Carolina (29-7) is set for around 8:39 p.m. CT, or 30 minutes after the finish of the West Region's first game of the day. That'd be Clemson vs. Arizona. The winners of the two games will then meet on Saturday, and pretty much everyone not wearing crimson and white gear out here on the West Coast expects UNC and 'Zona to be the teams squaring off in the Elite Eight. Have I mentioned yet that no one in Laker Land thinks Alabama has even a prayer request of a shot to take down the Tar Heels? Those feelings only gained strength on Wednesday here at the arena once known as Staples Center. The four remaining teams in the West Region each had practices open to the media and Alabama was noticeably without breakout transfer guard Latrell Wrightsell. I hate it for Wrightsell if he can't play due to that suspected concussion against Grand Canyon. Wrightsell is originally from Omaha, Neb., but he played his first three seasons of college ball at Cal State-Fullerton. The campus isn't too far from downtown Los Angeles, which means it only takes like two hours by car when traffic isn't too bad. Teams in the Sweet 16 with wins against Alabama this season: Clemson, Purdue, Creighton, Arizona and Tennessee twice. Alabama averaged 77 points in those games. North Carolina scored 100 points against Tennessee back in November. "We got to get our offense back," Alabama coach Nate Oats said. "We obviously can't hold Carolina to 60." If we've learned anything about Oats' teams over the last few years, it's that they don't stay cold for long. There's a reason for that, says assistant coach Ryan Pannone. I grabbed Pannone off to the side on Wednesday and asked him about his first season at Alabama. Pannone coached the Birmingham Squadron three years ago and was on the bench with the New Orleans Pelicans last year. Pannone is a hoops junkie and has chased the game all over the world. He's been recruiting Europe for the Tide, which might deliver one or two international gems next season. He has a great perspective on things. "Think about the way Mo Dioubate is playing," Pannone said. "He checks into the game and he played with the ultimate confidence. Nate Oats will ride it. Like, he might not have played in 10 games. Davin Cosby against Ole Miss, he won us the game. He went in and took 10 3s in 13 minutes. "Who coaches like that? When you enter the game, you get to play with the ultimate confidence as long as you play hard and play unselfish. Nate Oats is elite. He's a beast." Pannone said he and Oats were awake until 1:30 a.m. talking about the game against UNC, "and then he's up at 6:30 in the morning and we're talking again." Dioubate was the unlikely hero against Grand Canyon, but it could be someone else against North Carolina. Famously, Alabama has never broken through to the Final Four. Not only that, but Alabama has only made one Elite Eight (2008) in school history. Alabama is 1-8 in Sweet 16s. Is this the year? They're doubting Alabama here in Los Angeles, but there's a reason Oats has the Crimson Tide back on this stage for the third time in four years. Sooner or later, the averages are going to favor the former math teacher who crunches the numbers better than anyone but also has the ability to recruit a player like Chapel Hill, N.C., native Jarin Stevenson away from the Tar Heels. Stevenson, Alabama's 6-10 freshman, played high school 10 minutes from UNC's campus. I'm told that UNC coach Hubert Davis personally attended three of Stevenson's high school games his senior year. Stevenson chose Alabama. Long shot against Carolina? Oats apparently knows all about it. RELATED: Jarin Stevenson prepares to face hometown UNC "What Nate Oats does is not easy," Pannone said. "There is a reason why he wins everywhere he goes. There are times when I'm sitting there in a meeting thinking, 'This guy is a freaking beast.' He is a freaking beast, man, and he is on it all the time. "He is on every little aspect and he wants every little thing. Like, the amount of information he can take in and then decide what is important is really high. There are a lot of coaches who are just the opposite. They don't want a lot of information. He's the opposite. He wants it all and he's going to figure out what's important." In a close game, stealing a few possessions can make all the difference. Oats can figure out the details. I already understand the math. What's not important this time of year are the things that happened before this chance at history. More unlikely things have happened in this tournament than Alabama taking down the Tar Heels. Just ask Auburn. SOUND OFF Got a question about the changing landscape of college football, spring practice or March Madness? Want to get something off your chest? Send Joe a question about what's on your mind for the weekly mailbag. Let your voice be heard. Ask him anything. Joseph Goodman is the lead sports columnist for the Alabama Media Group, and author of the most controversial sports book ever written, "We Want Bama". If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.