Tide Tidbits - December 8, 2008

Tide freshmen ready for next challenge
Sure enough, the sun came up in Alabama the day after the Crimson Tide’s national championship hopes were dashed 31-20 by Florida in the SEC Championship Game. The first question is, what comes next? Alabama coach Nick Saban started work on a team that left a lot on the field Saturday. “I told them that all great teams have a loss, and it’s how you come back from a loss that really makes you a great team,” Saban said after the game. “And that’s the next challenge for you in whatever game we play in next.” As they have all season, the nine seniors will set the tone. And as they have all season, the talented freshmen will take it from there.

2009 Allstate Sugar Bowl: Alabama Vs. Utah
The 2009 Allstate Sugar Bowl will feature No. 4 Alabama, from the Southeastern Conference, and No. 6 Utah, from the Mountain West Conference, the Bowl Championship Series announced on Sunday. This year's sold out game will be played on Friday, Jan. 2 at the Louisiana Superdome with kickoff slated for 7:17 p.m. It is the first time since 1988 that the Sugar Bowl has featured two top-six teams in a non-championship contest.

Alabama's permanent captains for '08: Antoine Caldwell, Rashad Johnson and John Parker Wilson
Center Antoine Caldwell, safety Rashad Johnson and quarterback John Parker Wilson -- all seniors -- were voted by teammates as permanent captains and honored during Alabama's football awards banquet tonight. Caldwell and Johnson were team captains in 2007. Only six players in school history had been multi-year captains before this season.

Loss doesn't detract from UA's season
Florida, favored by 10 points, won Saturday's SEC championship game 31-20, just as the experts in Vegas projected. But people who predicted a blowout know how wrong they were. The Crimson Tide not only deserved to be on the field with the Gators — who had beaten each of their previous eight opponents by at least 28 points — it proved it is one of the top five teams in the country. "We definitely gained respect tonight," said Alabama junior running back Glen Coffee, who carried the ball 21 times for 112 yards. "This is a strong team mentally."

Sugar Bowl tickets will be hard to find
If you’re looking for a ticket to the Allstate Sugar Bowl, you won’t be the only one. The New Orleans bowl game is anticipating a shortage of available tickets to satisfy demand from University of Alabama football fans. Alabama accepted an invitation Sunday to play Jan. 2 in the game at the Louisiana Superdome against Utah. Alabama will receive 17,500 tickets for the game. The school’s deadline for bowl ticket orders passed in mid-November, and the UA ticket office expects to sell its entire supply to season ticket-holders and other priority customers through those orders. The bowl doesn’t expect to have any extra tickets available for sale to the general public.

Roll Tide!