Alabama, Georgia ready to rumble
National title on the line in Indy
INDIANAPOLIS — Coach Nick Saban walked off Alabama’s team plane Friday night to a cold, harsh reality.
When he returns to the airport for a final time this season, the Crimson Tide either will be celebrating another national championship or heading home disappointed.
Saban’s top-ranked team received a warm welcome in frigid Indianapolis, arriving shortly after dusk with streaks of orange and red and a bright crescent moon coloring the sky. Players scurried from the plane to buses with temperatures in the teens as drummers played tunes for Alabama before doing the same when Georgia arrived about 90 minutes later.
Even for a playoff regular like Alabama, this was a different routine.
“It’s been pretty cold in Tuscaloosa the last day or two but not this cold,” Saban said. “I told them to be ready for the cold. Our guys are not used to it. Fortunately, we won’t be playing in it, so I told them to get used to it from the plane to the bus.”
Monday night marks the first time the College Football Playoff championship game will be played in a northern city, and though the Lucas Oil Stadium dome will be closed, this was not the greeting organizers hoped for.
Thursday night’s wind chills dipped into negative digits and still were hovering there Friday morning. The highs Saturday and Sunday are expected to be near 40 degrees before lows are forecast to hit single digits again Monday night.
The good news is Indy’s maze of indoor walkways mean players and fans won’t need to be outside much if at all — just like the teams that competed in last spring’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
And in a region best known for embracing basketball, racing and the Big Ten, the buzz heating up around town is all about the Alabama-georgia rematch.
“We’re really pleased to have the opportunity to be in the CFP, and it’s a great place have it, a great venue,” Saban said, noting some of his players hope to return to Indy in late February for the NFL’S annual scouting combine.
A crowd of roughly 68,000 is expected to attend the game in the same venue where the NFL’S Colts have been playing in front of full or near-capacity crowds since August. Organizers are not requiring fans to wear masks, though they strongly encourage using them.