Alabama has navigated the oddest season in college football history with an 11-0 record, a Southeastern Conference championship and as the top seed in the upcoming College Football Playoff, but the weirdness is far from over.
Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide were selected Sunday afternoon to play fourth-seeded Notre Dame in the Rose Bowl national semifinal, which has been uprooted from California and will be held on New Year’s Day at AT&T Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington. The No. 1 seed typically plays in the semifinal closest to its campus, which under normal circumstances this year for Alabama would have been the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, but the playoff committee sent the Tide to a venue that will house 16,000 fans.
The Sugar Bowl, which will pit second-seeded Clemson (10-1) and third-seeded Ohio State (6-0), will allow only 3,000 on New Year’s night.
“We had no preference. We’re just happy to be in the game, and we knew that we would be playing against a very good team wherever,” Saban said. “I don’t think there is any question about the fact it’s an advantage for our fans and the families of our team that they have the opportunity to go see the game. It’s a great venue we’re playing in, and we’re certainly pleased and happy to be involved.”
Alabama has been allotted 3,380 tickets for the Rose Bowl, which is being held outside the Golden State for the first time since Duke University hosted the contest after the 1941 season due to World War II.