No. 5 Alabama to Play No. 9 Kansas State in Sugar Bowl

The two programs will meet for the first time ever as the Crimson Tide takes on the Big 12 champion.

Katie Windham | Dec 4, 2022

No. 5 Alabama to Play No. 9 Kansas State in Sugar Bowl /

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Alabama Crimson Tide

Playing for championships is the standard that Nick Saban has created at Alabama. But with two losses this season, the Crimson Tide came in at No. 5 in the College Football Playoff committee's final rankings, just outside of the playoff.

This means No. 5 Alabama (10-2) will play No. 9 Kansas State (10-3) in the Sugar Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 31, which was officially announced Sunday afternoon on ESPN. The Crimson Tide is the highest-ranked SEC team not in the playoffs, and the Wildcats knocked off No. 3 TCU to claim the Big 12 title this past Saturday.

It will be the first time Alabama and Kansas State have matched up in program history.

Alabama has more Sugar Bowl appearances (16) and wins (nine) than any other program. Its last appearance was Jan. 1, 2018 as part of Alabama's 2017 national title run. The Crimson Tide beat Clemson 24-7 as the 4-seed in the CFP. The last time Alabama played in a Sugar Bowl that was not part of the CFP was the 45-31 loss to Oklahoma in 2014. This is the fifth time Alabama will play in the Sugar Bowl under Saban and 13th BCS, CFP or New Year's Six appearance.

Several Crimson Tide players have already entered the transfer portal once the regular season ended, but players have not yet announced whether or not they will be playing in the bowl game. Announcements will likely happen within the next week.

"I can’t really speculate on that," Saban told ESPN about roster availability for the bowl game. "I’m hopeful players that will see this as an opportunity to create value for themselves, even if they’re older players that have a chance to get drafted this year and come out whether they’re seniors or juniors. And for the younger guys on the team to sort of build value for their future in terms of how you use this as an opportunity to grow, develop and get better.”

Kickoff for the Sugar Bowl will be at 11 a.m. CT on ESPN at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.

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Published Dec 4, 2022

KATIE WINDHAM

Katie Windham is the assistant editor for BamaCentral, primarily covering football, basketball gymnastics and softball. She is a two-time graduate of the University of Alabama and has covered a variety of Crimson Tide athletics since 2019 for outlets like The Tuscaloosa News, The Crimson White and the Associated Press before joining BamaCentral full time in 2021. Windham has covered College Football Playoff games, the Women's College World Series, NCAA March Madness, SEC Tournaments and championships in multiple sports.