# 1982–83 Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team

The 1982–83 Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team represented the University of Alabama in the 1982–83 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team's head coach was Wimp Sanderson, who was in his third season at Alabama. The team played their home games at Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. They finished the season 18–12, 8–10 in SEC play, and finished in a tie for eighth place.
The key freshman signee was forward Alphonso "Buck" Johnson from Hayes High School in Birmingham, Alabama.
It was an odd year for Sanderson and the Tide. They opened the season with eight consecutive wins, including a victory over Patrick Ewing and 10th ranked Georgetown, who had reached the NCAA Finals the season before. Once conference play began, the Tide struggled, notably losing to Vanderbilt and Ole Miss each twice. Even so, the Tide still managed to post wins over nationally ranked Kentucky (#3) and top-ranked UCLA (the latter notably occurring two days after legendary football coach Bear Bryant's death).
The Tide reached the SEC tournament final and lost to Georgia. They received an at-large bid to the 1983 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, and lost in the first round to Lamar.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 29, 1982* | No. 12 | Middle Tennessee State | W 103–58 | 1–0 | Coleman Coliseum Tuscaloosa, Alabama |
| Dec 4, 1982* | No. 13 | vs. Texas Tech | W 74–53 | 2–0 | |
| Dec 6, 1982* | No. 11 | SMU | W 74–56 | 3–0 | Coleman Coliseum Tuscaloosa, Alabama |
| Dec 11, 1982* | No. 11 | at Penn State | W 74–65 | 4–0 | Rec Hall University Park, Pennsylvania |
| Dec 18, 1982* | No. 10 | Louisiana Tech | W 88–73 | 5–0 | Coleman Coliseum Tuscaloosa, Alabama |
| Dec 20, 1982* | No. 8 | Texas Southern | W 88–58 | 6–0 | Coleman Coliseum Tuscaloosa, Alabama |
| Dec 28, 1982* | No. 6 | at USC Winston Tire Classic | W 74–61 | 7–0 | L.A. Sports Arena Los Angeles, California |
| Dec 29, 1982* | No. 6 | vs. No. 10 Georgetown Winston Tire Classic | W 94–73 | 8–0 | L.A. Sports Arena (10,940) Los Angeles, California |
| Jan 3, 1983 | No. 5 | at Florida | L 85–89 | 8–1 (0–1) | Stephen C. O'Connell Center Gainesville, Florida |
| Jan 5, 1983 | No. 5 | at Auburn | L 80–91 | 8–2 (0–2) | Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum Auburn, Alabama |
| Jan 8, 1983 | No. 5 | No. 3 Kentucky | W 74–67 | 9–2 (1–2) | Coleman Coliseum Tuscaloosa, Alabama |
| Jan 11, 1983 | No. 10 | Vanderbilt | L 79–81 | 9–3 (1–3) | Coleman Coliseum Tuscaloosa, Alabama |
| Jan 15, 1983 | No. 10 | at Georgia | L 64–67 | 9–4 (1–4) | Stegeman Coliseum Athens, Georgia |
| Jan 18, 1983 | | at Tennessee | L 64–73 | 9–5 (1–5) | Stokely Athletic Center Knoxville, Tennessee |
| Jan 28, 1983* | | at No. 1 UCLA | W 70–67 | 11–6 | Pauley Pavilion (12,574) Los Angeles, California |
| Mar 6, 1983 | | Auburn | W 86–78 | 17–10 (8–10) | Coleman Coliseum Tuscaloosa, Alabama |
| SEC Tournament ||||||
| Mar 10, 1983* | | vs. Auburn First Round | W 62–61 | 18–10 | Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Birmingham, Alabama |
| Mar 11, 1983* | | vs. No. 10 Kentucky Quarterfinals | W 69–64 | 19–10 | Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Birmingham, Alabama |
| Mar 12, 1983* | | vs. Mississippi State Semifinals | W 51–50 | 20–10 | Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Birmingham, Alabama |
| Mar 13, 1983* | | vs. Georgia Championship game | L 71–86 | 20–11 | Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Birmingham, Alabama |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| Mar 17, 1983* | (6 MW) | vs. (11 MW) Lamar | L 50–73 | 20–12 | The Summit Houston, Texas |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||