TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Most of us watch a team clinch a title and scroll past the ads for the championship gear. Not Nate Oats.

When the Wisconsin native's Milwaukee Brewers won the World Series last week, he went and placed an order, buying the merch in celebration of the first title in the franchise's 58-year history.

Oats, who traveled to Tampa Bay to watch the World Series ahead of the start of Alabama's season, sees some apt similarities between the reigning champs and his current roster.

"The Brewers were in the bottom third in Major League Baseball in budget," Oats said. "We're in a similar situation. They won the World Series, you know. How do we win?"

The Brewers’ title wasn’t a Cinderella run. Milwaukee has been a perennial winner — three straight 90-win playoff appearances and a trip to the NLCS last year — but had never finished the job before this year. Alabama knows the feeling: No. 1 overall seed in 2023, Final Four in 2024, four straight Sweet 16s, but no national championship.

The Brewers swept the Dodgers in the National League Championship Series despite a payroll that was less than half of Los Angeles' star-studded roster. With a roster budget near the bottom of the SEC, Alabama faces a similar uphill battle.

How does a team overcome such stark financial realities? A viral statement that Brewers' manager Pat Murphy (no relation to the Alabama softball coach) made last month, in the moments following the final out against the Tampa Bay Rays, gives us an idea.

"Just remember when you were on that horses--- Yankees team and you guys were all playing for yourself? Just remember, say, 'This is the way we used to do it.'"

Murphy was speaking to former Yankee Jake Bauers, who missed the playoffs in 2023 with a Yankees team that had the second-highest payroll in baseball. The message, as clichéd as it may be, is clear. The Brewers won because they, as Oats put it, "play baseball the right way." They didn't need the most expensive players or flashiest stars to succeed.

Can the same apply to Alabama?

"I had our guys kind of list off what it means to play the right way in basketball," Oats said. "Are you a good teammate? What does that mean? You move the ball. You set great screens. You've got a lot of 'Mudita.' You're really having vicarious joy in your teammate's success. We're looking at guys that move the ball, want to pass the ball? They play for each other."

There was another statement Murphy made that created headlines, this one in the clubhouse following the sweep of Los Angeles.

"They may have a bunch of Hall of Famers, but we've got a bunch of gamers. And the gamers won this week."

Those words resonate within the context of college basketball. Florida boasts three preseason All-SEC players. Duke, all the future lottery picks in the world to go along with one of the offseason's most expensive portal additions. Illinois, a cast of foreign talent that could put EuroBasket clubs to shame. The Louisvilles and Kentuckys and Texas Techs of the world can throw any amount of money at any player and field a completely new roster every year. Alabama can't. Plain and simple.

Ahead of the Crimson Tide's season opener, Oats played a clip from the Brewers' run for the team. The blueprint is right there. You don't need to outspend somebody to outplay them.

"That's what's going to have to separate these guys," Oats said. "We've got really good guys, but you can be a good guy and not play the game of basketball the right way. So are they playing the right way? I think they all know what the right way is supposed to look like."

Oats bought the Brewers’ championship gear. It's time to see if Alabama can earn its own.