The Kansas State football team arrived in New Orleans on Monday for the start of Sugar Bowl week.
So did Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide.
It won’t be long before kickoff arrives at 11 a.m. on Saturday inside the Superdome and a national viewing audience tunes in to watch K-State square off against Alabama in one of the most anticipated games on the postseason schedule.
One thing that will help the Sugar Bowl stand out on New Year’s Eve: star power.
All of Alabama’s best players have decided to compete in the Sugar Bowl, including stud linebacker Will Anderson and former Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Bryce Young. You will see K-State stars Deuce Vaughn, Cooper Beebe and Felix Anudike-Uzomah out there, too.
These teams don’t believe in the phrase “opt out.”
“I think it’s great,” K-State football coach Chris Klieman said. “It’s great for college football that the best players are going to play in this game. We have a handful of those guys as well that have elected to play in this game. And that’s what it’s about. It’s playing with your brothers one last time for the guys that are going on to the next level. And I think that’s really important for our game in general.”
Many were surprised when Young and Anderson decided to play, given that they are both projected top five picks in the upcoming NFL Draft.
Not Saban, though he did say his coaching staff did “everything that we could do as an institution to minimize the risk for them to play” in the Sugar Bowl.
“I think both guys have been tremendous leaders on our team,” Saban said. “They’re both captains on our team. I think they feel sort of a responsibility to being a part of the team and have a tremendous amount of respect for their teammates, which I think probably weighed into their decision to play.”
This will be a drastically different bowl game than K-State experienced last season at the Texas Bowl.
The Wildcats played another SEC blue blood in that postseason matchup, but the Tigers were dealing with unprecedented turmoil. LSU played in that game without essentially half its roster following a coaching change and mass exodus of departing transfers.
K-State rolled 42-20 against the junior varsity squad that LSU sent to Houston.
A similar victory won’t be so easy against an Alabama team that is more or less at full strength. But the Wildcats are up for the challenge.
“They come to play and we come to play; they give their best guys and we give our best guys,” Anudike-Uzomah said. “It’s going to be a good matchup. It’s exciting. It’s an honor to play a New Year’s Six bowl, so I think that’s why everyone is playing.”
Anudike-Uzomah went on to say it was a no-brainer for him to play in this game.
“It’s a dream come true just to play in the Sugar Bowl,” he said. “It’s a dream I’ve had since I was a little kid to play in a New Year’s Six bowl. I’m not here just to have a dream, I’m here to even win it, too.”
Klieman and Saban hope that this game goes well for both teams — and that star players from around the country consider taking the field in future bowl games.
“It’s a great example for college football,” Saban said, “that guys that are special players who have had great seasons and have won numerous awards choose to continue to play and support their team.”
Still, this game is going to be a challenge for both teams. Klieman went so far as to call it “a fist fight.”
That is what happens when both teams treat the Sugar Bowl like a big deal.
