The Alabama Crimson Tide have started off the college basketball season at 1-0 following their opening night win against Sam Houston this past Tuesday. Next up for Alabama is another home matchup, this time against Arkansas State, and head coach Nate Oats implored the university’s students to show up in force for the game, as per Charlie Potter of On3.

“We need the student section completely full on a Friday night. And then we need everybody else that’s got tickets to make sure that they’re using the tickets,” Oats said. “We need this place to be full and support our guys. I think we’ve got a really good roster. I think we’re a fun team to watch.”

For Alabama’s opening game against Sam Houston, they had a little over 11,000 fans in the arena. Coleman Coliseum holds a little over 15,000 people. And the Crimson Tide come into the season as one of the top teams in the country, currently ranked No. 20 in the AP top-25 men’s basketball poll.

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This is Alabama’s eighth season with Nate Oats at the helm as head coach. He first took over the program ahead of the 2019-20 season, and had compiled an overall record of 170-73 prior to this year. The Crimson Tide have reached the NCAA Tournament in all but one of his seasons thus far, including five Sweet 16 appearances, two Elite Eights and one Final Four.

Last season, the Crimson Tide finished with an overall record of 25-10 and 13-5 in SEC play. They reached the Sweet 16 where they were eliminated by eventual champion Michigan.