Alabama to face Ohio State in Sugar Bowl
By Wade KwonAuburn to Outback; Birmingham Bowl taps Florida, East Carolina
Alabama celebrates its SEC Championship win over Missouri.
It’s been a crazier-than-usual week for football in Alabama …
• For the 6th consecutive year, a team from the state will be battling for the national championship. No. 1 Alabama (12-1) faces No. 4. Ohio State (12-1) in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day in New Orleans.
The winner faces either No. 2 Oregon (12-1) or No. 3 Florida State (13-0) on Jan. 12 in Dallas.
Alabama beat No. 16 Missouri 42-13 Saturday in Atlanta for its 24th SEC Championship. Hueytown native and persistent troublemaker Jameis Winston led Florida State over No. 12 Georgia Tech 37-35 in the ACC title game.
• No. 19 Auburn (8-4) will head to Tampa, also playing on New Year’s Day, for the Outback Bowl, facing No. 18 Wisconsin (10-3).
• South Alabama (6-6) will play in Montgomery’s inaugural Raycom Media Camellia Bowl on Dec. 20, taking on Bowling Green (7-6).
• In the Naming Sponsorship Still Available Birmingham Bowl on Jan. 3, Florida (6-5) will battle East Carolina (8-4). The Gators are making their first trip to this bowl, while the Pirates lost to South Florida in the first then-called PapaJohns.com Bowl in 2006.
• Mobile’s GoDaddy Bowl will have Arkansas State (7-5) in its fourth consecutive appearance Jan. 4. The Red Wolves won two out of three times and will face Toledo (8-4), last in the bowl in 2005 beating Texas-El Paso.
• UAB will not go bowling. The Blazers finished 6-6, with slim hopes of a bowl bid turned even slimmer by Tuesday’s announcement that the program was kaput.
• The 66th annual Reese’s Senior Bowl takes place Jan. 24 in Mobile. The South leads the series over the North 29-26-3.
• In last week’s high school finals …
- Hoover beat Prattville 35-21 to win the first ever 7A championship.
- Leeds defeated Deshler 30-0 for the 4A title.
- Clay-Chalkville topped Saraland 36-31 for the 6A championship, finishing a perfect 15-0.
- Pleasant Grove lost to St. Paul’s 35-13 in the 5A finals.
Video: Announcement of the Top 4 teams
