JUST IN: K-State playing Alabama in Allstate Sugar Bowl
After beating No. 3 TCU (12-1) in the Big 12 title game on Saturday to capture their first league crown in a decade, Kansas State (10-3) is scheduled to play No. 5 Alabama (10-2) and head coach Nick Saban, one of college football's most dominant programs -- and the sport's greatest coach ever -- in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Dec. 31 at 11 a.m. CT in New Orleans at the Caesers Superdome.
“We are excited to represent the Big 12 Conference in the Allstate Sugar Bowl,” said K-State head coach Chris Klieman, who led the Wildcats to a Big 12 Championship in his fourth year with the program. “I am really proud of our team, especially our seniors, and our staff for their resolve this season. A lot of people doubted this team throughout the year, and they just continued to put their heads down and go to work every day. We look forward to heading to New Orleans for the first time in school history and preparing for a great team in Alabama.”
Entering the 2022 season, Alabama was viewed as the favorite to win the College Football Playoff with 2021 Heisman winner Bryce Young returning at quarterback and projected top-5 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft Will Anderson returning on the defensive side as an edge rusher.
But the Crimson Tide narrowly escaped Texas in a Week 2 road victory over the Longhorns before later losing to SEC rivals Tennessee and LSU on the final play of the game in each instance.
K-State, a trendy pick to win the Big 12 before the season, overcame an early season setback to Tulane at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Week 3 to win the Big 12. The Wildcats lost to only two Big 12 opponents this season, at TCU and vs Texas, but Saturday's title game victory over TCU avenged the Wildcats' 38-28 loss to the Horned Frogs earlier this season.
Since being named the head coach at Alabama prior to the 2007 season, the Crimson Tide have won at least 10 games in every season since 2008. Saban's teams have won the national championship six times, most recently the 2021 title over Ohio State.
The last time Alabama played in the Sugar Bowl was on Jan. 1 2018 when the Crimson Tide beat Clemson 24-6 to advance to the national tile game. Excluding playoff appearances, the last time Alabam played in the Sugar Bowl was in 2013, a game Oklahoma won.
Kansas State has never played in the Sugar Bowl in its history, and the Wildcats and Crimson Tide have never played each other before.
The upcoming Sugar Bowl will be the sixth match-up of teams from the SEC and the Big 12 since an agreement was signed by the Allstate Sugar Bowl and the two conferences in 2014. Overall, it will be the 17th Sugar Bowl meeting between teams that now make up the SEC and the Big 12.
The 2022 Sugar Bowl is the 89th in the history of the bowl game, and it is being played on New Year's Eve for the first time since 1995