Ironic, maybe, that arch-rivals Auburn and Alabama were both sent to same site for the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament more than 2,000 miles from home and had locker rooms on opposite sides of the same walls.

It meant as Auburn walked off the floor and back to the locker room Friday after a 78-76 upset loss to No. 13 seed Yale in Spokane, Washington, it had to pass right through an Alabama team warming up to take the floor in the hallway beside them.

Or well, except for Alabama head coach Nate Oats. He wasn’t there, he was in the Yale locker room.

“It had nothing to do with the fact that they beat Auburn,” Oats said in his press conference Saturday in advance of a second round game against Grand Canyon. “I know everybody wants to make that out to be. You want your league to do well. It looks a lot better for us if our league does really well. It was just, I’ve known Coach Jones, got a lot of respect for him.”

Thinking back to when he was the head coach at Buffalo and upset Arizona in the first round in 2018 as a No. 13 seed, Oats said he understands that jubilant feeling.

And Oats and Yale head coach James Jones have strong ties. So Oats just wanted to congratulate Jones. He said he didn’t speak to the Yale team.

In his press conference, Oats mentioned taking forward Jordan Bruner as a grad transfer from Yale for the 2020-21 season. The Ivy League doesn’t allow graduate students to play. Bruner scored 5.6 points per game that season and started 23 games from the Crimson Tide.

But through the recruitment process, Oats got to know Jones much better as they talked about Bruner.

Oats and Jones paths have crossed because of an upset before, too.

It’s a small world, and the last time Yale won in the NCAA Tournament — beating Baylor in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament — Oats was playing at the same site. Then the head coach at Buffalo, Oats and Jones were both beginning March Madness in Providence, Rhode Island.

Buffalo played in the game directly after Yale beat Baylor just as Oats’ Alabama team played in the game directly after Yale beat Auburn.

“I don’t know where they’re going to get sent next year, but if they can maybe convince the committee, if they’re fortunate enough to make the tournament, to send Alabama to play right behind them,” Oats said. “They’re 2-0 with Coach Oats following up behind them.”

Buffalo, a No. 14 seed, wound up losing to Miami in the first round in 2016. This year’s Alabama team — obviously, a much higher seed as a No. 4 seed — didn’t meet the same fate, beating No. 13 seed Charleston 109-96 on Friday.

Alabama will face No. 12 seed Grand Canyon in the Round of 32 on Sunday. Yale will face No. 5 seed San Diego State.

Matt Cohen covers sports for AL.com. You can follow him on X at @Matt_Cohen_ or email him at [email protected]