With Josh Childress on the pine, Stanford was doomed. AP

SI.com caught up with Grant Wahl at Key Arena in Seattle, minutes after No. 8 seed Alabama shocked No. 1 Stanford 70-67 in the second round of the NCAA tournament. To read his account from Nevada's stunner over Gonzaga hours earlier, click here.

SI.com: What's with Stanford in Seattle? It's the only place they've lost this season -- first to Washington on March 6, now to Alabama.

Grant Wahl: It's the one place they can't win. It's hard to say. That game reminded me a lot of the Nevada-Michigan State game from Thursday night -- Stanford, like Michigan State, seemingly had it in hand until late in the second half. Then they gave up a huge run to Alabama, and the Cardinal just didn't respond.

SI.com: What was the point in the second half when Stanford really looked doomed?

Wahl: The most important point was when Josh Childress picked up two fouls -- in a matter of seconds on two bang-bang plays -- and fouled out of the game. That was the knockout Alabama needed to get this upset done.

SI.com: So was Childress the guy Stanford needed if it was going to pull off a comeback?

Wahl: Obviously, you need guys in the NCAA tournament who can create points when the shot clock is running down or when you get down late in the game. With Childress not on the court, that made it really difficult for Stanford. They don't have many guys capable of creating points like he can. They have a lot of guys who are pop-up shooters, who can come off of screens and score -- but not create on their own.

SI.com: Which Seattle upset is more shocking to you -- Stanford or Gonzaga?

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Wahl: The most shocking, to me, was what Alabama did. I wasn't impressed with the Tide on Thursday against Southern Illinois, but they really stuck with the Cardinal in the second half, and played excellent defense. Not that Alabama is a bad team -- they beat Mississippi State on the road and played a tough, tough schedule.

SI.com: Now that the West Coast's most powerful squad has been sent packing, do you look back and think they were overrated?

Wahl: It was definitely a down year for West Coast basketball. We didn't know it was going to be this down, though. The Pac-10 won't have a single team in the Sweet 16.

But it's hard to give a final evaluation on Stanford from a single-elimination tournament. If they play a three-, five-, or seven-game series against Alabama, would the Tide win? Probably not. But the Cardinal didn't look good today, and if you have a bad day in the tournament, you're done.

Stanford is a team that played clutch all year, but they dug themselves too much of a hole. You can only tempt fate so many times.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Grant Wahl covers college basketball for the magazine and SI.com.