Alabama vs. Robert Morris: 2025 NCAA Tournament Preview & Predictions

by BettingPros Staff |
Mar 16, 2025

The 2025 NCAA Tournament is officially here! The March Madness Bracket is set, and first-round NCAA Tournament matchups are in place. It’s time to make your picks and predictions for the first round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament! We’re here to help as we’ll have picks and predictions for each of the first-round 2025 NCAA Tournament games. Here are our NCAA Tournament previews and predictions for Alabama vs. Robert Morris.

2025 NCAA Tournament Preview & Predictions: Alabama vs. Robert Morris

Here are the odds for this opening-round matchup of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Let’s dive into our preview and predictions for this first-round NCAA Tournament matchup.

Alabama 2025 NCAA Tournament Preview

As the fastest team in the nation, Alabama's play can be volatile. The Crimson Tide made the Final Four last year but got upset in the Sweet 16 in 2023 and didn't make it out of the first round in 2022.

It's hard to prep for a team like Alabama, which will come at you with an analytically sound approach from head coach Nate Oats, with a top-10 rim-and-three rate. This is one of the most experienced teams in the country, and Mark Sears and his leadership at point guard is indispensable.

Defensively, shot volume is a concern. Alabama’s forced turnover rate ranks 348th, and as fast as the Crimson Tide plays, teams score on the fastbreak and inside the arc when the Crimson Tide can't set up in transition. Or a team like Missouri will just make every shot from deep, as Alabama allows a high open-three rate, ranking 65th in ShotQuality's adjusted defense.

The term "battle-tested" is thrown around frequently, but no team had a tougher strength of schedule than Bama. Their end-of-year schedule was brutal, with games against Tennessee, Florida, and Auburn before the SEC tournament. In the conference tourney, the Crimson Tide faced Kentucky and then Florida again. So while momentum doesn’t appear to be in Alabama’s favor, its performance against non-conference teams shows how tough it is to face this team.

Shot volume allowance is the biggest concern for Bama, as any off night shooting could knock them out of the tourney. Still, the quick turnaround favors Bama over most squads, with their speed and depth giving them one of the best top-to-bottom rosters in the country.

Robert Morris 2025 NCAA Tournament Preview

Robert Morris was one of the few one-seeds to avoid the landmines of their conference tournament to earn an auto bid into the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2015 under Andrew Toole. Their path to victory was in large part thanks to Horizon League Player of the Year Alvaro Folgueiras. The 6-9 sophomore is a menace on the glass with a top-50 true shooting percentage and can score anywhere on the court, with a near 43% shooting clip from deep. His frontcourt mate, Amarion Dickerson, anchors the defense as conference Defensive Player of the Year with a top-40 block rate that ranked third in the league. The freshman can get to the charity stripe, as is usual for the Colonials, and the tandem duo of Folgueiras and Dickerson is going to be tough for opponents to deal with. The problem is their 351st-ranked non-con strength of schedule. Forget wins. RMU only played one top-100 ranked KenPom team, and it was the first game of the year, an 87-59 drubbing defeat to West Virginia. They’ve done well for themselves in 2025, going 17-3 while ranking 125th on Bart Torvik since January 1st. Still, it’s hard to trust their conference numbers when push comes to shove, and they have to play up in class, especially with their lower seeding. Kam Woods does know a few things about upsets coming from the Final Four N.C. State team a year ago. The way for victory here is the Colonials stepping up defensively and hoping their offensive rebounding and free throw rate stays true when they play up in class.

Check out all of our 2025 NCAA Tournament Bracket & Betting Coverage >>

2025 NCAA Tournament Game Previews

March Madness is officially here! The 2025 NCAA Tournament Bracket has been announced, and the teams are lining up for the Big Dance. Let's take a look at the early odds, previews, and predictions for the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

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