Some people thought the stones on the crimson road appeared to be falling in place for Alabama to wind up in the College Football Playoff.

After beating Auburn in the Iron Bowl, the Crimson Tide needed Clemson, USC, LSU and TCU all to lose one of their final two games. The last of those stones fell in place when the TCU Horned Frogs fell to Kansas State in overtime in the Big 12 Championship Game.

The Alabama defense makes a tackle against Auburn. (Alabama Athletics)

But the College Football Playoff Committee said, “Not so fast,” opting for once-beaten TCU over twice-defeated Alabama. That decision sends No. 5 Alabama (10-2) to the Allstate Sugar Bowl to face No. 9 Kansas State (10-3) at 11 a.m. Dec. 31 on ESPN.

Nick Saban acknowledged there is disappointment that his team didn’t qualify for the playoff.

“We sort of had a season that was a little bit up and down for us,” he said. “We finished strong. Hopefully we can do a great job of embracing the challenge that we have playing in a classic, when you talk about the Sugar Bowl, how exciting it is to be a part of it.”

Alabama is one of four in-state teams going bowling for the holidays, with three of them – Alabama, Troy and South Alabama – having amassed at least 10 wins already.

And there are three bowl games being played within the state’s borders – in Birmingham, Montgomery and Mobile.

UAB, under interim head coach Bryant Vincent, takes a 6-6 record to play Miami (Ohio) in the 2022 HomeTown Lenders Bahamas Bowl at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 16 in Nassau, Bahamas.

Miami, which represents the Mid-American Conference (MAC), also enters the game at 6-6. It will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs. The Blazers qualified for their seventh straight bowl – 2014 and then 2017-22 after the football program was reinstated.

UAB has won two bowl games in school history: 37-13 over Northern Illinois in the 2018 Boca Raton Bowl and 31-28 over No. 13 BYU in the 2021 Independence Bowl. This will be the second time UAB has played in the Bahamas Bowl (2017).

🚨OFFICIAL: @MiamiOHFootball and @UAB_FB will be facing off in the HomeTown Lenders @TheBahamasBowl to kickoff #BowlSeason!🚨 pic.twitter.com/tlirwqKj5Z

— Bowl Season (@BowlSeason) Nov. 27, 2022

Troy, the champion of the Sun Belt Conference, has the best record of Alabama teams. The No. 24 Trojans will take an 11-2 record into this bowl appearance as they face No. 25 UTSA (11-2) in the Duluth Trading Co. Cure Bowl. The game is at 2 p.m. Dec. 16 on ESPN.

The team from San Antonio is winless in its three prior bowl appearances.

Troy enters bowl season having won 10 straight games overall after defeating Coastal Carolina 45-26 in the Sun Belt Championship game Dec. 3. The Cure Bowl marks Troy’s ninth bowl game and first since the 2018 Dollar General Bowl. The Trojans have won four straight bowl games dating back to the 2010 New Orleans Bowl.

“I’m excited for our players, our staff and our university,” Sun Belt Coach of the Year Jon Sumrall said. “We’ve heard amazing things about the Cure Bowl and the bowl experience they provide for our student-athletes. We’re going to Orlando with the intention of winning a football game, but we’re also going to make sure that our players have a great time and are rewarded for a championship season.”

Coach Jon Sumrall, left, and his Troy Trojans celebrate the team’s victory over Army, one of 11 wins for the program this season, including the Sun Belt Conference Championship. Its rewards include a national ranking and a trip to the Duluth Trading Co. Cure Bowl to play UTSA. (Troy Athletics)

South Alabama’s La’Damian Webb runs the ball in the Jaguars’ 31-3 win over Arkansas State, one of 10 victories for South Alabama this season. Next up is a trip to play Western Kentucky in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl Dec. 21. (Scott Donaldson)

Troy’s in-state rival South Alabama is among seven Sun Belt Conference teams heading to a bowl. The South Alabama Jaguars (10-2, 7-1) will face Western Kentucky (8-5) in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl at 8:15 p.m. Dec. 21 on ESPN.

“This is a game that has great prestige in the college football landscape,” USA coach Kane Wommack said. “It is a game that I got the opportunity to play in as a player and that was a special thing to be a part of, and now to bring a team that has worked so hard to get to 10-2 and represent the Sun Belt Conference is an awesome accomplishment for this program.”

Wommack, the second-year Jags coach, last week received a contract extension. The contract will potentially keep Wommack with South Alabama through the 2028 season.

South Alabama is coming off its best FBS season and in the third bowl game in school history. The Jags are 15-9 under Wommack and set records for overall wins and conference wins on their way to a share of the West Division in the Sun Belt Conference.

In-state bowls announced

Coastal Carolina will make its second trip to Alabama when it faces East Carolina in the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl. The Chanticleers will face the Pirates at 5:45 p.m. Dec. 27 on ESPN.

Coastal Carolina (9-3) fell 45-26 to Troy in the Sun Belt Conference Championship Game. East Carolina brings a 7-5 mark to Birmingham’s Protective Stadium.

This will be the Pirates’ second bowl appearance under head coach Mike Houston following the 2021 Military Bowl, which was canceled due to COVID-19 protocols within the Boston College program. ECU is also set to play its third bowl game in the Birmingham area after participating in the inaugural Papajohns.com Bowl in 2006 against South Florida and the Birmingham Bowl in 2015 against Florida.

Protective Stadium will host Coastal Carolina and East Carolina for this year’s TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl on Dec. 27. (Solomon Crenshaw Jr. / Alabama NewsCenter)

Coastal Carolina has twice played in the Cure Bowl, losing 37-34 to Liberty in 2020, and beating Northern Illinois 47-41 in 2021.

Also on Dec. 27, Georgia Southern and Buffalo are set to meet in the ninth annual Camellia Bowl. Kickoff is at 11 a.m. in Montgomery’s Cramton Bowl on ESPN.

Georgia Southern (6-6, 3-5 Sun Belt Conference) closed the season with a thrilling 51-48 double-overtime win over Appalachian State to become bowl eligible under first-year head coach Clay Helton.

Buffalo (6-6, 5-3 Mid-American Conference) used a late touchdown to defeat Akron 23-22 on Dec. 2 to become bowl eligible for the fourth time in five years. After starting the season 0-3, which included losses to Maryland and Coastal Carolina, Buffalo reeled off five straight wins for head coach Maurice Linguist.

Southern Miss will face Rice in the LendingTree Bowl on Dec. 17. The game, played for the second year at Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile, kicks off at 4:45 p.m. on ESPN.

Southern Miss (6-6, 4-4 Sun Belt Conference) wrapped up the regular season with a 20-10 win at UL Monroe to become bowl-eligible for the first time since 2019.

Rice (5-7, 3-5 Conference USA) will be playing a bowl game for the first time under head coach Mike Bloomgren. The Owls’ last bowl appearance came at the 2014 Hawaii Bowl, when they defeated Fresno State 30-6.