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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Stephen Douglas

Alabama Seniors Celebrated Senior Night in Half-Empty Arena After Loss to Florida

Alabama players face the remaining crowd after a loss to Florida on senior night. | @aldocomTide

The No. 7-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide hosted the No. 5 Florida Gators on senior night on Wednesday. Rather than celebrate outgoing seniors Mark Sears, Grant Nelson, Chris Youngblood and Cliff Omoruyi before the game, Alabama made the decision to hold the ceremonies after the game.

Alabama moved the celebration to after the game so that it wouldn't be a distraction. This obviously didn't end up mattering because even without the distraction Alabama lost to their SEC rivals, 99-94.

Coach Nate Oats requested that fans stay to honor the seniors after the game "no matter what the final outcome was."

The good news is that the seniors and their families were able to put on a happy face to be honored. Unfortunately, not everyone honored Oats's requests for everyone to stick around in the event of a loss.

Instead people had already left by the time Sears took his final shot at Coleman Coliseum—a missed three at the buzzer that didn't even matter.

Even Auburn fans felt bad.

The Tide will travel to Auburn to take on the top-ranked Tigers on their senior night on Saturday. Presumably they'll celebrate their seniors before the game.


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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Alabama Seniors Celebrated Senior Night in Half-Empty Arena After Loss to Florida.

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