For the first time in program history, Alabama is a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

The Tide learned its long-expected spot in March Madness during Sunday evening’s selection show, which came hours after the team captured its second SEC tournament championship in three seasons.

Alabama players watched from Nashville as the NCAA tournament selection committee not only made the Tide a top seed for the first time, but the No. 1 overall seed in the entire tournament. The top spot in the tournament was secured with Sunday’s victory over Texas A&M after the other contender, Kansas, lost Saturday in the Big 12 championship game.

Alabama will open the tournament Thursday by playing the winner of a No. 16 seed play-in game Tuesday between Texas A&M Corpus Christi and Southeast Missouri State. With a win, Alabama would advance to play the winner of No. 8 seed Maryland and No. 9 seed West Virginia on Saturday.

Both the first and second round games will take place in Birmingham’s Legacy Arena. After undergoing extensive renovations in 2020-21, the building is hosting its first NCAA tournament games since 2008. Birmingham is one of eight sub-regional sites, with the Tide’s top seed offering the privilege of playing in front of their home state’s fans.

The NCAA has yet to announce the time of Alabama’s game Thursday. There will eight teams, including Midwest No. 1 seed Houston and No. 9 seed Auburn, playing in Birmingham as part of the tournament with four games Thursday and two Saturday.

Alabama was placed in the South region by the NCAA tournament committee, which was widely expected. That means if Alabama advances past the second round, it will play a Sweet 16 game in Louisville, Kentucky on Friday, March 24, with a potential Elite Eight game on Sunday, March 26.

The No. 2 seed in the South region is Arizona, the No. 3 seed is Baylor and the No. 4 seed is Virginia.

The Final Four will be held April 1 in Houston, with the national championship game April 3.

Before this season, the highest seed Alabama had earned in an NCAA tournament was No. 2 — in 1987, 2002 and 2021. But the only time the program has advanced past the Sweet 16 came in 2004, when the No. 8-seed Tide made the Elite Eight. Alabama has never played in a Final Four.

For Alabama’s fourth-year coach Nate Oats, the NCAA tournament appearance is his sixth in his seven seasons as a Division I head coach when a tournament was held. He twice advanced to the second round while coaching Buffalo and made the Sweet 16 his second season at Alabama in 2021.

Alabama already has a program-record 29 wins and, at 16-2 in the conference, captured its second SEC regular-season title in the past three seasons.

Mike Rodak is an Alabama beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mikerodak.