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This is an opinion column.

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They shut down Oxmoor Road in Homewood to celebrate Samford’s selection to the NCAA Tournament. That’s where Samford president Beck A. Taylor made a bold prediction.

“We’re not done yet,” Taylor said to the block party. “Make plans for next Saturday or Sunday.”

March Madness is here for the state of Alabama and it’s time to dream big.

And think big.

And party a little, too.

Puff out your chest, Alabama. State-wide hoops bragging rights might never be better than this. The Golden Age of college basketball in the Yellowhammer State is officially here and it arrives with a national spotlight. Six tickets to the Big Dance, three conference champions and a block party attended by hundreds of hoops fans. They mostly came to celebrate the Bulldogs in the Edgewood neighborhood of Homewood, but there were plenty of Alabama, Auburn and UAB shirts, hats and cheers, too.

“Let’s just call it what it is, we’re playing for a national championship,” Samford coach Bucky McMillan said. “The thing that makes March so incredible is that anyone can win it and anyone can go to the Final Four.”

Florida Atlantic proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt last season. Why not Samford? After Sunday’s draws, the state of Alabama has a better shot than most of celebrating a deep run by one of its teams.

Six overall from Alabama are dancing between the women’s and men’s NCAA Tournament. On the women’s side, Auburn and Alabama made the field with at-large bids. For the men, UAB, Auburn and Samford received automatic tickets on Selection Sunday thanks to conference tournament championships while Alabama was awarded an at-large selection for another stellar season with coach Nate Oats.

Unprecedented? Don’t forget that the state of Alabama had four teams in the men’s field two years ago with Alabama, Auburn, UAB and Jacksonville State. Alabama won the SEC in 2022. Auburn won the SEC tournament on Sunday. UAB and Samford are conference champs. College hoops greatness in Alabama is suddenly everywhere and all at once.

Take one look at the men’s bracket and something sticks out immediately. Alabama, Auburn and UAB all play in Spokane, Wash., on the first weekend and the Tigers and Blazers could meet in the second round.

In the East Region, No.12-seed UAB plays No.5-seed San Diego State at 12:45 p.m. on Friday in Spokane. In the day’s very next game from Spokane Arena, No.4-seed Auburn opens up with No.13-seed Yale. Friday’s second session at Spokane Arena then begins with No.4-seed Alabama vs. No.13-seed Charleston at 6:45 p.m.

It’s UAB, Auburn and Alabama in back-to-back-to-back games. It’s like the storylines were chiseled in gold by the basketball gods high atop Cheaha Mountain. Load the wagon train today for the voyage out West.

Auburn and UAB are two of the hottest teams in the country. There is a very real chance that they could face off in the Round of 32. I still can’t believe it. Auburn coach Bruce Pearl doesn’t like the Tigers’ draw after punching through the SEC tournament, but fans will see it differently.

UAB coach Andy Kennedy’s team had the potential all season and the Blazers put it all together in the AAC tournament. In their first season in the league, UAB blew the field away. Those FAU Owls that won everyone’s heart last season? The Blazers (23-11) smoked them for the second straight season at home.

But guess who ended FAU’s storybook run in the 2023 Final Four? It was UAB first-round opponent San Diego State, which also knocked Alabama out of the 2023 Sweet 16.

Is this the season the Crimson Tide finally makes the Final Four? Alabama (21-11) didn’t play its best basketball at the SEC tournament, but that can change quickly. I like Alabama draws in the NCAA Tournament. First up is No.13-seed Charleston, winners of the Colonial. After that, the Tide would face the winner of No.5 St. Mary’s vs. No.12 Grand Canyon.

If you’re already thinking Sweet 16 like Samford’s excitable university president, then Alabama’s side of the West Region is anchored by No.1-seed North Carolina while Auburn’s draw puts the Tigers on a possible collision course with defending champ and No.1-seed UConn.

Want a Cinderella story? Samford fits the profile. It’s the Bulldogs’ first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2000 — and third ever — but No.13-seed Samford (29-5) was already picked to upset No.4-seed Kansas by CBS tournament analyst Seth Davis during the selection show.

There isn’t a better story in the NCAA Tournament than the rise of Samford hoops under hometown legend Bucky McMillan. McMillan crafted his breakneck style of basketball, dubbed Bucky Ball, while coaching at Mount Brook High School. Now Bucky Ball and Samford will receive the national spotlight.

“He’s the best coach in the country,” said Taylor, Samford’s president.

Or at least one of the best in a state that’s suddenly beating down the door of hoops heaven.

SOUND OFF

Got a question about March Madness, the changing landscape of college football or spring practice in the SEC? 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”.