Published On: 12.21.20 | 

By: Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Football preview: Bowl lineup pits Alabama against Notre Dame, Auburn vs. Northwestern; UAB hopes for new opponent

Alabama Crimson Tide running back Najee Harris stiff-arms Florida Gators defensive back Donovan Stiner in the fourth quarter of the 2020 SEC Football Championship at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Undefeated Alabama next heads to the Rose Bowl to face No. 4 Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff. (Matt Pendleton/Special to the Sun)

The question was as predictable as the answer when Alabama coach Nick Saban was asked if he had a preference for who his team faced in the College Football Playoff (CFP).

“We had no preference. We’re just happy to be in the game,” said the coach of the CFP’s No. 1 Crimson Tide. “We knew that we’d be playing against a very good team wherever. I think both venues are outstanding venues and it will be a great experience for our players. So, we had no preference at all.”

No preference except to be there, which Alabama is after outdueling No. 6 Florida 52-46 Saturday night in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Championship Game. The latest in a string of 11 straight victories in this most peculiar season was all the validation the CFP Committee needed to make Alabama the No. 1 seed in this four-team national title tournament.

The Tide faces No. 4 seed Notre Dame, whose only blemish in 11 games was a payback 34-10 loss to No. 2 Clemson (10-1) in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championship Game. Alabama takes on the Fighting Irish in the first semifinal at 3 p.m. Central Time on New Year’s Day in the Rose Bowl game, which will be played, because of COVID-19 restrictions in California, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Coach Dabo Swinney’s Tigers will tangle with No. 3 Ohio State (6-0) in the second semifinal at 7 p.m. Central Time on Jan. 1.

Alabama Crimson Tide wide receiver DeVonta Smith attempts an acrobatic catch in the second quarter of the 2020 SEC Championship game. (Matt Pendleton/Special to the Sun)

Those were the first dominoes to fall in place as the 2020-21 bowl schedule was revealed Sunday.

Alabama Crimson Tide wide receiver DeVonta Smith attempts an acrobatic catch in the second quarter of the 2020 SEC Football Championship. (Matt Pendleton/Special to the Sun)The lineup of bowls is missing some games that have been called off, including the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl.

Some thought Alabama as the No. 1 seed was certain to play closer to home in the Sugar Bowl at New Orleans’ Superdome. Instead, the Tide is headed to Arlington, where 16,000 socially distanced fans can attend. California COVID-19 restrictions would have allowed fewer fans at the actual Rose Bowl.

“The committee decided that the advantage was for the No. 1 team to have more fans able to watch them play,” explained CFP Selection Committee Chairman Gary Barta.

Saban said he knows little about his semifinal opponent, except that Notre Dame is good.

“I know they have a very good team,” he said. “They beat Clemson, who has a really, really good team. I know they’ve got a really good quarterback. They play very tough defense and have got some skill guys that can make plays.

“I don’t think you win 10 games in this season without having some really, really good players,” Saban continued. “I think that was the big thing about this season. The people who played 10 or 11 games had to survive the grind, and the grind of this season was a whole lot different than any other season. That’s why I thought those teams should be rewarded.”

But the Tide coach added that Ohio State has a great team. “They probably deserve to be in the playoffs as well based on the quality of team that they have,” he said.

 Auburn faces Northwestern in Citrus Bowl

The No. 14 Northwestern Wildcats (6-2, 6-2 Big Ten) and the Auburn Tigers (6-4, 6-4 SEC) will meet in the 2021 Vrbo Citrus Bowl.

Auburn Tigers quarterback Bo Nix goes for a touchdown during the game between Auburn and Texas A&M earlier this month. Auburn will take on Northwestern in the Vrbo Citrus Bowl on New Year’s Day. (Shanna Lockwood/AU Athletics)

The 75th edition of the game will take place at noon Friday, Jan. 1, at Camping World Stadium on ABC. The game will mark the second-ever meeting between the Wildcats and Tigers and the first since Auburn’s overtime victory over Northwestern at the 2010 Outback Bowl.

“We’re ecstatic about representing the SEC in Orlando in the Vrbo Citrus Bowl,” Auburn interim head coach Kevin Steele said. “I’ve talked to a couple of the players already; they’re extremely excited about it. It gives them an opportunity to, one more time, fight for the Auburn family and show what we are at Auburn as a football program.

“Like everybody else, we’ve been through a lot of ups and downs with the COVID season,” Steele said. “These guys have been resilient. They’ve shown a lot of character, leadership and the ability to adapt in a way that I know the Auburn family is very proud of.”

This season’s Vrbo Citrus Bowl will mark Auburn’s sixth appearance in the game, tied with Florida, Georgia, Michigan and Penn State for the most all time. Auburn is 3-2 in its five previous trips, with the most recent coming in 2006. The Wildcats are making their second Vrbo Citrus Bowl appearance and their first since the 1997 game, a loss to a Peyton Manning-led Tennessee squad.

A limited number of Vrbo Citrus Bowl tickets are available at bigtime.games/tickets. Seats are available in clusters of two, four, six or eight, with physical distancing in place.

Additional information on Florida Citrus Sports and city of Orlando safety procedures is available at floridacitrussports.com/covid.

UAB loses bowl opponent, holds out hope

The UAB Blazers, champions of Conference USA, accepted an invitation to play in the 2020 Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl against South Carolina of the SEC, but the Gamecocks withdrew from the contest on Tuesday, citing COVID-19 issues.

In a statement reported by ESPN, South Carolina athletic director Ray Tanner said, “Between members of the coaching staff and student-athletes, COVID and contact tracing has taken a toll too high for us to overcome. I have notified the bowl and the SEC office that we are not able to play in the game on Saturday.”

The game was to be played in Tampa, Florida, at Raymond James Stadium. The kickoff was set for 11 a.m. Central on ABC.

UAB (6-3) was set to appear in its fourth straight bowl game since returning to action in 2017. The Blazers are three-time defending C-USA West Division champions and just captured their second league title in the past three years with a 22-13 victory at Marshall on Friday.

Since returning to action in 2017, UAB has compiled the most wins of any team in Conference USA with 34 victories.

According to a tweet from UAB athletic director Mark Ingram, the Blazers still hope to play in the Gasparilla Bowl if a new opponent can be found.

Birmingham Bowl canceled

Birmingham City Council President William Parker was talking to media Sunday afternoon at Legion Field about the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl that was scheduled to be played there New Year’s Day.

He had just finished his comments when, after a phone call, he returned to the podium to acknowledge the game had been canceled.

“This isn’t what I expected to announce,” he said later.

Organizers of the bowl released a statement that, due to recent changes and a number of teams opting out of bowl season, the 15th annual TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl has been canceled.

“We have made the difficult decision to cancel the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl,” said Mark Meadows, executive director. “As the inventory of available teams lessened, our ability to stage the game was compromised. We will direct our focus to next year’s bowl and look forward to staging the game in the 2021 season.”

William Parker discusses Birmingham Bowl cancellation, Legion Field from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.

Capital City contests

While the bowl game in Birmingham is canceled, Montgomery is set to host two. The Montgomery Bowl and the seventh annual Camellia Bowl will be played at historic Cramton Bowl in downtown Montgomery.

The Memphis Tigers and Florida Atlantic Owls will meet in the Montgomery Bowl on Wednesday, Dec. 23, at 6 p.m. on ESPN.

Memphis (7-3, 5-3 American Athletic Conference) ranks in the Top 25 nationally in total offense (451.1 total yards per game) and passing offense (310.3 passing yards per game).The offense is led by sixth-year senior quarterback Brady White, who transferred to UM from Arizona State. White ranks in the Top 10 nationally in touchdown passes (28), passing yards (3,096), passing yards per game (309.6) and total offense (317.2).

Florida Atlantic (5-3, 4-2 Conference USA) will enter the game with a stingy defense, led by senior cornerback and Montgomery native Zyon Gilbert.

Following the Montgomery Bowl, the Cramton Bowl will host the Camellia Bowl on Christmas Day at 1:30 p.m. Central Time. The game between the Marshall Thundering Herd and Buffalo Bulls will be televised on ESPN.

Marshall and Buffalo were Mid-American Conference rivals from 1999 through 2004. The teams have combined to win 10 MAC Eastern division titles.

Marshall (7-2) won the 2020 Conference USA Eastern Division Championship, its first since 2014. The Thundering Herd has won eight division titles, including three C-USA Eastern Division (2013, 2014 and 2020) titles.

Marshall is playing in its seventh bowl game in the past eight seasons.

Buffalo (5-1) captured the 2020 MAC Eastern Division championship, its fourth in school history. Buffalo is playing in its fifth bowl game in school history.

LendingTree Bowl

The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers and Georgia State Panthers are set to meet in the 22nd annual LendingTree Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 26, at 2:30 p.m. Central Time on ESPN. The game will be played at Ladd-Peeples Stadium in Mobile.

Georgia State (5-4, 4-4 Sun Belt) won three of its last four games to secure a bowl game for the second straight year and third time in four seasons under head coach Shawn Elliott.

The Panthers are seeking their second bowl victory against the same WKU team that they defeated for their first bowl win, a 27-17 victory over the Hilltoppers in the 2017 AutoNation Cure Bowl in Elliott’s first season.

Western Kentucky (5-6, 4-3 Conference USA) closed the season with three straight wins over Southern Miss, Florida International University and Charlotte. The Hilltoppers scored 37 points in each of its last two games, including a season-high 38 points in the win over FIU.