March Madness: Alabama earns No. 1 overall seed amid season clouded by murder case

Alabama is the overall top seed in the NCAA Tournament after cruising through the end of a season clouded by a murder case over the past two months.

The Crimson Tide was awarded the top spot Sunday over Kansas and Houston, each of whom exited their conference tournaments without the titles and missing key cogs on their teams.

The distinction comes after a turbulent season for Alabama, who dismissed Darius Miles from the team after he was arrested for murder.

And the team's star, Brandon Miller, has also been linked to the case, though he has not been charged. 

Tuscaloosa detective Branden Culpepper testified last month that Miles texted Miller on January 15, asking his then-teammate to bring his gun to an off-campus area, where 23-year-old Jamea Jonae Harris was later shot and killed.

Miller allegedly complied, driving the gun to Miles and another man, Michael Lynn Davis, who was indicted on capital murder charges along with Miles this week.

Alabama celebrate winning the SEC Tournament after beating Texas A&M on Sunday

Brandon Miller has starred for the Crimson Tide despite being linked to a murder case

Miles has maintained his innocence, and his lawyers say he is 'heartbroken' over the tragedy.

'While Darius has been accused of being involved with this tragedy, he maintains his innocence and looks forward to his day in court,' Miles' attorneys said in January.

Meanwhile, Miller has fueled the fire by being jokingly 'patted down' during a pregame warmup, which his coach Nate Oats called 'not appropriate.'

The 6-foot-9 Miller is the Tide's leading scorer at 18.7 points a game, and is projected to be a lottery pick in June's NBA Draft. Both ESPN and NBADraft.net have Miller being taken among the top five picks.

Elsewhere in the college basketball world, the defending national champion Jayhawks lost by 20 to Texas on Saturday in the Big 12 tournament. 

They played without their coach, Bill Self, who went to a hospital emergency room Wednesday night complaining of chest tightness and concerns with his balance. He has been discharged and is expected back this week.

Houston was without leading scorer Marcus Sasser, who went down with a groin injury Saturday. The Cougars are the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region.

Miller's patting gesture came after police revealed his connection to a fatal shooting

Darius Miles (left) and Michael Lynn Davis (right) have both been charged with capital murder. Miles has since been removed from the Crimson Tide basketball team 

Action in the 68-team tournament begins Tuesday with two games in the 'First Four.' March Madness gets into full swing Thursday and Friday with 32 games spread over eight cities. The Final Four is set for April 1 and 3 at NRG Stadium in Houston.

Though not the overall No. 1 seed, Houston, which could be playing what amounts to two home games at the Final Four, came in as the favorite per FanDuel Sportsbook at 11-2. 

Next was Alabama at 15-2, followed by Kansas, which is trying to become the first team to win back-to-back titles since Florida in 2007, and is listed at 9-1.

The Tide will play in the South Region and will open Thursday in Birmingham, Alabama, against the winner of a First Four game between Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and Southeast Missouri State.

Alabama guard Adam Cottrell (30) celebrates after Alabama won the SEC Tournament

Elsewhere in the tournament, Arizona State and Nevada made it off the bubble and into the 68-team field. Rutgers and Oklahoma State did not. Purdue, with 7-foot-4 Zach Edey leading the way, edged out UCLA for the fourth and final No. 1 seed.

Some teams to watch for include 13th-seeded Iona , coached by the legend, Rick Pitino, who has the Gaels in the show for the second time in three years - with some people wondering if he´ll be heading over to a vacant job at St. John´s soon. Iona got a brutal draw - a first-round meeting against fourth-seeded UConn.

There is Southern Conference champion Furman, back in the tournament for the first time since 1980 and MEAC champ Howard, back in the tourney for the first time since 1992.

There is also Kennesaw State, the program that went 1-28 in 2019-20 and now finds itself in the bracket. 

And for the rest of the dreamers, there is Texas Southern - the team that won its conference tournament as a No. 8 seed and comes to March Madness at 14-20 for a play-in game against Fairleigh Dickenson.