Bama Football Holds Sunday Walkthrough
CFP National Championship Tonight
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| CFP Photo |
The No. 1-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide football team closed out its national championship game practice on Sunday afternoon with a walkthrough. The next time Bama will be on this field is for all the marbles, the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.
The Alabama Crimson Tide and the second-ranked Clemson Tigers face off tonight in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game at Raymond James Stadium with the kickoff scheduled for 7:17 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN with Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit covering the game from the booth while Tom Rinaldi and Samantha Ponder work both sidelines. This will be the Crimson Tide's fifth time in eight seasons playing in college football's final game of the season to determine the national champion.
Sunday began with Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban joining Clemson head man Dabo Swinney for the CFP Head Coaches Press Conference at the Tampa Convention Center before the team traveled to the University of South Florida in the afternoon for the walkthrough at the USF practice fields. Both coaches spoke and answered questions from the media.
This will be the 17th meeting between the two schools, with Alabama holding a 13-3 all-time advantage over Clemson. Though the Tigers won the first three meetings, the Crimson Tide has gone on to 13 consecutive wins, including last season's 45-40 come-from-behind victory in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game. Alabama picked up its 16th National Championship in that win.
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| CFP Photo |
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| Graphics/Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
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CFP National Championship Press Conference
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| Click HERE for Saban/Sweeney Press Conference |
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Alabama Women's Basketball Bests Missouri
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| Photo Credit: UA Athletics |
Alabama women's head basketball Kristy Curry was thrilled with the win, and told why she remembered the last road win so well, saying, "That last time we won [an SEC road game] was February, 23 [2014] at Vanderbilt. My dad died that day, so believe me, I remember the last one for a lot of reasons. Hannah Cook, NeNe Bolton, Meo Knight, those kids haven't won an SEC road game, and it's something that you look at as we build a program. That's important to them. Ashley Williams is the only player on our roster to have won on the road, so it shows you that we don't have a lot of experience, but we're building that. Again, this is just a great thing to check off that list. It's tough to win in any week on the road. I've won here once or twice during Big 12 time. I'm just thankful for today, and more than anything, just happy for our kids."
Bolton finished the contest leading the Crimson Tide in points with 18 on the day. Both she and fellow junior Ashley Williams led the team in rebounds with nine apiece, while freshman Jordan Lewis contributed seven crucial assists.
Curry further commented, "This was about kids making plays and not coaches drawing up plays at that point in the game. (Sierra) Michaelis made a big shot, and we were just fortunate to have the ball at the end against a very good Missouri team that we have so much respect for. It was an incredible crowd today. Just a great atmosphere for SEC women's basketball, and we were just fortunate to have the last possession and make a play."
Alabama was 22-of-65 (33.8 percent) shooting the ball, while Missouri hit on 42.0 percent (21-50) of theirs from the floor. The Tide outrebounded the Tigers, 44-31, and outscored Missouri, 28-8, in points from their bench.
Alabama will now return to Tuscaloosa and the friendly confines of Coleman Coliseum for three consecutive home games, the first of which will be with the Kentucky Wildcats Thursday, January 12th. Game time is set for 7 p.m. CT on SEC Network +.
| Game Stats | UA | MO |
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| FG% | .338 | .420 |
| 3FG% | .160 | .333 |
| FT% | .846 | .833 |
| RB | 44 | 31 |
| TO | 9 | 11 |
| STL | 4 | 4 |
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Najee Harris Arrives At The Capstone
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| Najee Harris will play for Bama Twitter Photo |
The wait is over. After a little cat and mouse that included "playing" with the media and an air-flight destination switch, the nation's number one recruit, leading rusher in Northern California prep history and Antioch High School running back Najee Harris has arrived in Tuscaloosa and play football for the University of Alabama. After he enrolls this this week, Harris will become head coach Nick Saban's first number one recruit to sign.
Numerous news/sports outlets have now confirmed that Harris arrived at The Capstone yesterday and plans to enroll early sometime this week. He had been seriously flirting with the idea of choosing Michigan because of a strong rapport he had developed with Wolverines head coach Jim Harbaugh. In the end, obviously, he stood by his commitment and flew to the Birmingham, Alabama airport and then made his way to Tuscaloosa. Fellow Alabama commit Tua Tagovailoa let the cat out of the bag this past week saying that Harris and he were on the same flight to Birmingham and were going to be roommates at UA.
Harris eventually told reporters that had dogged him for quite some time now and especially last week that he was going to bypass the traditional commitment announcement and just show up at either Alabama or Michigan, making that his announcement. That's pretty much what he did. One source found out he switched flight destinations, eventually making Birmingham/Tuscaloosa his destination. Thus, he flew from San Antonio and has arrived in time for Spring semester classes which begin this Wednesday.
In addition to Alabama, Harris took official visits to Michigan, UCLA and Cal.
No doubt the young man isn't afraid to be a competitor, which against opposition or earning a place on a team's (Alabama's) roster. Harris said in an earlier November interview, "I really love competition, and there’s nothing better than the SEC. Then when I went there, you feel that thing in your body, like, 'Okay, this is where I want to go.' I felt comfortable there. …
"But I got that feeling at Michigan, too, and Ohio State."
The 18 year old running back is a 6' 3", 226-pound bruising speedster (4,5 in the 40) that also is able to not only run over would-be tacklers but make moves that leave them standing almost flat-footed. This past season, Harris rushed for 2,776 yards and scored 36 touchdowns as Antioch went 8-5 and reached the NCS championship game for only the second time in school history. He finished his career with 7,948 yards rushing, the fourth-highest total in California history, according to Cal-Hi Sports. He also scored 99 touchdowns.
