The appeal of Alabama college basketball has spread beyond state lines and has made it onto the cover of this week’s Sports Illustrated.
Alabama and UAB can only hope they aren’t going to be the latest victims of the Sports Illustrated cover jinx.
Under a headline that reads “Sweet Alabama,” Alabama’s Chuck Davis and UAB’s Mo Finley grace this week’s cover.
Well, UAB does, sort of.
Although the Blazers’ 76-75 upset of the Wildcats is regarded as the bigger of the two upsets during the weekend, Blazer fans may be irked that Alabama is splashed across most of the cover.
The Crimson Tide dominates the cover, while Findley is shown in a small inset shot.
In the St. Louis Regional on Sunday, UAB shocked Kentucky, the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, to advance to the Sweet 16. Alabama also advanced to the Sweet 16 with a win over No. 1 seed Stanford in the West bracket.
Rick McCabe of SI’s communications department said the obvious reason both teams grace this week’s cover is because they were winners in the biggest upsets so far in the NCAA Tournament. He also said the players were chosen because of the “impact they have made on their teams” as well as some of the photos being “the best of our photography.”
This week’s issue will be available as early as today on newsstands.
The Birmingham News UAB section