This is an opinion column.

In like a lion.

Because this … is March.

After playing 39 minutes and 30 seconds of the kind of basketball Alabama needed to play against rugged Tennessee in a brutal environment, the Crimson Tide got smacked in the face by a cyclone.

It was a quintessential third-month-of-the-year moment.

This lion had teeth … and wore that shade of orange.

He came with a lesson and an uncomfortable reminder of the fragility in this phase of the calendar.

A combination of breakdowns — coaching and executing alike — led to a pre-bracket moment as disheartening as they come. There’s nothing like watching one rival drain a game-losing, buzzer-beating 3-pointer that clinched the outright league championship for your biggest rival.

A 79-76 sucker punch with everyone watching.

That happened.

It shouldn’t have. For a few reasons.

But it did.

Alabama went from the verge of a huge road win to the blunt end of the internet’s viral moment of the day.

It’s March. The Madness comes with the joy of an accountant. It’s a land of debits and credits — paying in and cashing out.

Alabama rode the wave of March straight into the unknown of April the last time by the sun. That came after years of paying in, investing heartache for the emotional release that followed the Elite Eight win over Clemson.

The tax man came calling again Saturday.

Glasses on the bridge of his nose, Excel shortcuts in the holster, Alabama got the bill.

Now we can pretend the universe is keeping score but the Crimson Tide didn’t sulk out of Knoxville on Saturday for the run it made a year ago.

It’s because they flubbed almost every aspect of the game’s final 30 seconds.

From up four to losing by three requires that special blend of miscues and misfortune that can doom a season. This wasn’t a sudden death scenario but it was the ultimate dress rehearsal for when it’s win-or-bin time.

Making 17 of 26 foul shots (65.4%) won’t cut it.

Neither will going 13-for-30 at the rim.

Now, Tennessee has the nation’s No. 1 defensive efficiency rating and Alabama’s 76 points tied for the third-most allowed by a Vol group that hasn’t surrendered more than 81 points at any point this season.

But Alabama left money on the table.

And March’s pencil pusher snatched that right up.

Still, Alabama was in an enviable position up four after Labaron Philon made 1-of-2 foul shots with 36 ticks left.

That’s where everything went south and Alabama coach Nate Oats took responsibility.

Grant Nelson was called for two fouls in the blink of an eye after Alabama took that four-point lead. The game was tied when the ball crossed midcourt again and the visitors — for the first time all day — played without the confidence and swagger that built what peaked at a nine-point lead midway through the second half.

Philon dribbled into the Bermuda Triangle of defenders as the clock ticked under five seconds. He never got a look at a game winner, but it’s what happened after the fortunate jump ball that’ll haunt Alabama and Oats more than anything.

With true freshman Philon taking the ball out under the Alabama basket and 3.8 seconds on the clock, the ultimate fumble cost the Tide not only the shot to win, but overtime too.

1, 2, 3, 4 … call timeout.

Didn’t happen.

In the shadow of the Crimson Tide bench and with two perfectly legal timeouts in his sport coat pocket, Oats watched as Alabama was whistled for the inexcusable 5-second call.

Jahmai Mashack of course drilled the deep 3-pointer at the buzzer to cap the collapse.

A guy who took just 35 shots from beyond the arc all season drained the biggest one from waaay behind it.

March, man.

Oats, to his credit, ate it.

“I’m going to take most of the blame for the last 30 seconds,” Oats said. “It’s on me.”

He copped to subbing the rebounders before he should’ve on the foul shots that preceded Alabama’s final possession.

And then, you know.

“Then I had a chance to call a timeout,” Oats said. “Coaches have a chance to call timeouts on the underneath out-of-bounds play. At 4, I should have called it. Thought we were getting it in. It’s on me.”

To sum it up …

“I was not good for the last 30 seconds today,” Oats said. “I feel like I failed these guys. For 39-and-a-half minutes, (Alabama) outplayed (Tennessee).”

That’s the cruelty of this month.

A well-played game in a historic season could be the coin flip in deciding the legacy of a team.

This will burn but it’s not a death blow.

There is a tomorrow after this brush with the madness machine.

And perhaps a lesson for the importance of the final 30 seconds after a pretty good opening 2,370.

This time of the year isn’t horseshoes or hand grenades.

Play the full 2,400 seconds.

Or go out like a lamb.

Michael Casagrande is a reporter for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande or on Facebook.