NEW ORLEANS — Alabama coach Nick Saban gave his players a history lesson after they learned they'd been left out of the College Football Playoff and would instead meet Kansas State in the Sugar Bowl.
The past two times the Crimson Tide played in New Orleans on the heels of similar disappointments, it didn't go well.
"That was kind of the first thing that Coach Saban discussed" when bowl practices commenced earlier this month in Tuscaloosa, offensive lineman Emil Ekiyor Jr. said. "The attitude of this team has been completely opposite of the attitude that he explained that those teams had."
The 2008 Crimson Tide were favored against Utah in the Sugar Bowl that season but lost by two touchdowns. The 2013 squad was also favored in the Sugar Bowl but lost — again, by two touchdowns — to Oklahoma.
This time, No. 5 Alabama (10-2) heads into Saturday's game favored by 6 1/2 points over No. 11 Kansas State (10-3), according to Fanduel Sportsbook.
"We've been really focused. We've been doing extra lifts, extra sprints after practice, extra film, just treating this game like it's our championship," said Ekiyor, whose program missed the Southeastern Conference title game for just the fourth time in the past 11 seasons. "I'm really excited to see how we perform because I know we put a lot into it."
The Wildcats, who beat TCU in overtime at the Big 12 title game earlier this month — the Horned Frogs are the No. 3 seed in the CFP and will face No. 2 Michigan in Saturday's Fiesta Bowl — have expressed similar sentiments heading into the first game between the programs.
"Growing up, I always looked at Alabama as the best program in college football history," Kansas State defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah said. "So it's a dream come true and an honor to play them."
Although it has become common for high-profile NFL draft prospects to opt out of bowl games that aren't part of the CFP, the best players for Alabama and Kansas State are expected to suit up for Saturday's game, which kicks off at noon Eastern on ESPN.
Bryce Young, the 2021 Heisman Trophy winner and the first Alabama quarterback to pass for 3,000-plus yards in consecutive seasons, is among the big names planning to play, along with Crimson Tide edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. — who repeated this season as the Bronko Nagurski Trophy winner as the nation's top defensive player — Kansas State running back Deuce Vaughn and Wildcats defensive end Anudike-Uzomah.
"The best thing you can do to create value for your future is to play really well against really good teams," Saban said. "I'm very pleased that they chose to do this."
Saban said that when players say they're opting out to prepare for the draft, they really mean the NFL combine.
"A lot of things you do at the combine are irrelevant to what you do playing football," Saban asserted, citing seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady, "who didn't run fast at the combine, didn't jump high, didn't bench press a lot, didn't do all of the things that they measure ... but he can play quarterback."
Kansas State coach Chris Klieman said the Wildcats' top players "weren't going to let their teammates down, and it was never even a conversation that we even had to have. I never asked anybody, 'Are you going to play in this game?'"
It will offer the Wildcats a chance to put one more stamp of success on Klieman's fourth year. After starting 6-3 this fall, they arrived in New Orleans on a four-game winning streak and are in position to make this season among the most memorable in program history.
"Not many people expected Kansas State to be in this position this year," Klieman said. "We have a number of kids that are going to have opportunities to play at the next level, but we haven't had a kid on our football team that's had an opportunity to play in the Sugar Bowl and to play in a New Year's Six game. That's really special."
Alabama has played in the national title game or a CFP semifinal in all but three of the past 14 seasons, so Saban has to guard against letdowns when his team enters bowl season outside the national title picture.
"It's more challenging when that's sort of a goal for what the players work for all year long and came up short," Saban said. "But I think that our players have had the right disposition and the right mindset."