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Alabama HC Nate Oats makes statement that will have Tennessee Vols fans rolling their eyes
Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports

Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats made a statement on Saturday night after his team's win against the Arkansas Razorbacks that will have Tennessee Vols fans rolling their eyes. 

Oats suggested during his post-game media session on Saturday that Alabama would have won the regular season SEC championship this season (instead of the Vols) if guard Latrell Wrightsell had not missed four games (including Bama's recent loss to Tennessee) with a head injury. 

“I feel like if we’d have had him in all those games he was out, we definitely wouldn’t have lost some of the ones we did," said Oats. "We’d have a league championship if he hadn’t gone down. But that’s some of the adversity we’ve gotta play through.”

Oats also made it clear that he's hoping for a rematch with Tennessee in the SEC Tournament this upcoming week. 

“(Alabama being the No. 3 seed) means we’ll be opposite bracket from Tennessee," said Oats. "We’ll see who we end up with on Friday and Saturday. And see if we can’t get a rematch with Tennessee for a third time on Sunday. That’d be great.”

Tennessee, which clinched the SEC regular season championship last week via their win against South Carolina, swept the season series from Alabama. 

The Vols are the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament and Alabama is the No. 3 seed, which means the only way the two teams can meet in the SEC Tournament is if both teams reach the championship game. 

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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