March Madness: Dick Vitale gives his Final Four prediction: ‘Alabama’s not just a football power’

Dick Vitale has made his prediction, baby!

The ESPN college basketball personality has No. 1 overall seed Alabama winning the NCAA tournament national championship. March Madness indeed.

“Alabama’s not just a football power, but basketball has arrived big time down in Tuscaloosa,” Vitale said in a video released by ESPN.

Alabama was ranked No. 1 in the final Associated Press men’s basketball poll, released Monday.

The Tide received 48 first-place votes, moving up three spots from its No. 4 ranking last week. No. 2 Houston received nine first-place votes, No. 3 Purdue received three and No. 7 UCLA received one.

Vitale has Nate Oats’ Tide, coming out of the South Region, getting by Baylor in the Elite 8. “The difference in the game is the multi-skills of Brandon Miller. He’s so talented.”

For those keeping score, Vitale has his Elite 8 looking like this:

South: Alabama vs. Baylor
East: Duke vs. Marquette
Midwest: Miami vs. Texas
West: Kansas vs. Gonzaga

The win over Baylor will match the Tide up with Duke, according to Vitale.

“I have to go with the Crimson Tide,” he said. “Miller is that good. I really like that Alabama team.”

He added the Longhorns will find a way to defeat Gonzaga in the Final Four to advance to the title game against Alabama.

That’s right: Alabama vs. Texas for the national championship. Not in football but basketball.

Mark Heim is a sports reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim.