TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The familiar feeling of anxiety was replaced by an assurance within the Alabama baseball team during last weekend’s NCAA Tournament selection process. The 2020 team, which started 16-1, saw its season end due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while the 2021 and 2022 teams entered Selection Monday on the bubble; with last year’s team not hearing its name called.

This year’s team, with a 40-19 record, didn’t have to wait until Monday for its fate. The Crimson Tide were selected as a Regional host on Sunday night, meaning they earned one of the top 16 seeds in the 64-team field. Alabama’s first game is at 6 p.m. ET on Friday against Nicholls State.

“It’s kind of a different feeling than I’ve had in the past,” shortstop Jim Jarvis said during the SEC tournament. “The past two years, we were kind of on the bubble, a little bit scary. Right now, it’s a little bit more confident. We know we’re going to have baseball, which is really, really exciting because that’s what everyone wants.”

It’s Alabama’s first time as a host seed since 2006 and its first 40-win season since 2010. But there’s a bigger context that puts the 2023 season in perspective: how the team responded following a scandal that created national headlines.

On May 4, former coach Brad Bohannon was fired due to suspicious betting activity on the Crimson Tide’s game against LSU six days prior. Then, Alabama suffered through a three-game losing streak and as a projected No. 3 Regional seed, according to D1baseball, and it was still jockeying to make the NCAA Tournament. Few people outside of the program predicted what happened next: a 10-4 record down the stretch en route to the No. 16 national seed.

Now, there’s a legitimate chance for a first Super Regional appearance since 2010. Inside the program, interim coach Jason Jackson and the players point to a strong belief in each other that never waned.

“We know what kind of group we have,” Jackson said. “We know what their character is and their ability to handle adversity. I think now it kind of shows some other people, to kind of recognize just how resilient they are.”

Tuscaloosa – You WILL have June baseball!#RollTide pic.twitter.com/g81ETmYxfh

— Alabama Baseball (@AlabamaBSB) May 29, 2023

Alabama turned to Jackson, a 20-plus year assistant coach, as the interim; his first time leading a program as a head coach. Shifting from pitching coach to head coach, his primary goal was to keep everything “business as usual.” And he shared a message to the players that empowered them to take charge of the team’s turnaround.

“He told us to play for ourselves,” pitcher Garret McMillian said. “Just give everything we have for us and for this team. We’ve all been together a good while now, just being here for so long and just wanting to win for ourselves and just the state of Alabama. Just representing the right way; that’s basically the way we’re going about it.”

The Crimson Tide have a veteran-laden team: Eight of the team’s nine regular starters are upperclassmen, and the pitching staff has a veteran feel as well. The experience of the team has been a consistent theme down the stretch of May. It created a larger sense of accountability and motivation to elevate the program, and many remember the team’s leaner years in their early days in the program.

“It feels a lot better than how we started out,” first baseman Drew Williamson said. “It’s a lot of fun. You just trust the process, and you grow in the game, and this team has just kind of been able to grow together and develop such a tight bond. To finally see it, to see the results on the field has been nice for sure.”

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Alabama’s impressive May run includes three straight series wins over SEC tournament champion Vanderbilt, Texas A&M (a tournament team) and Ole Miss (last season’s national champion) and an SEC tournament win over No. 13 national seed Auburn.

Jackson has earned praise throughout the conference for the turnaround from Auburn’s Butch Thompson, Florida’s Kevin O’Sullivan and Vanderbilt’s Tim Corbin.

“I think certain situations with teams can bind you and allow you to insulate yourself to where you focus on your relationships and moving forward,” Corbin said. “I think they’ve done that. I think their staff, I mentioned to (Jackson) how I felt like he had done a really nice job with his team from afar in terms of holding them together, playing well. You can tell that those older kids have taken ownership of that team, which is really what you want this time of year.”

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From opposing coaches, the biggest difference in Alabama’s run has been pitching. The Crimson Tide have been a consistent hitting team, but during the 10-4 stretch, Alabama has allowed just 3.2 runs per game. Continuing that momentum will be critical for an NCAA Tournament run.

“(Catcher Mac Guscette) has done a great job,” Jackson said. “He calls the bulk of the pitches, and he does a really good job with those guys, another big piece is just our bullpen has really solidified. We’ve got a little bit more defined roles than probably we did early on in league play.”

The next chapter of a rollercoaster 2023 season begins Friday night at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. What happens next from the team’s performance this weekend to Jackson’s future with the team is unknown, but how this group turned controversy into a success story surely will be remembered.

“I mean, I’m so proud of them,” Jackson said. “These guys really deserve it, and they’ve really earned it. They’ve played really good baseball all year, to kind of see it on that back half of league play and things kind of come together for them, so proud. These guys, they’ve earned every bit of it.”

(Photo of Jim Jarvis: Michael Wade / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)