Two of the biggest storylines surrounding Alabama leading up to its game with the Michigan Wolverines' football team has been its motivation level, and the impact the absences will have of the defensive players who are sitting out.
Clint Lamb of RollTideWire.USAToday.com was kind enough to swing by this week and discuss those topics with us.
NEWS: Alabama's motivation level has been called into question coming into this one, seeing as how the Crimson Tide have been in the College Football Playoff each of the first five years of the event's existence.
Tomorrow's Citrus Bowl will be Alabama's first non-BCS/New Year's Six bowl game since the 2010 season, when they beat Michigan State 49-7 in the Citrus Bowl.
LAMB: "Alabama has earned a reputation for coming out flat in postseason games that don’t national championship implications – at least outside of that massive beatdown given to Michigan State in the 2010 Capital One Bowl.
"The Citrus Bowl will give [head coach] Nick Saban and the rest of the team an opportunity to put those beliefs to rest.
"Considering several high-profile NFL prospects, including [junior receiver] Jerry Jeudy, [junior wideout] Henry Ruggs III and [junior right tackle] Jedrick Wills Jr., are electing to play, the hope is that they’ll be looking to make a statement against a well-respected, really good Michigan football team."
VIEWS: The sad reality is that Alabama is probably good enough to still win this game even if it's not fully mentally engaged.
The Crimson Tide would likely have to be disinterested in a significant way if the Maize and Blue hope to pull the upset.
Talk is cheap, but the Wolverine players have said all the right things over the last several weeks in regards to their interest in this game.
No U-M players are electing not to compete (that we know of), which wasn't the case last year when running back Karan Higdon, linebacker Devin Bush, defensive end Rashan Gary and right tackle Juwann Bushell-Beatty all decided it was in their best interest not to play.
This year's postseason will be unfamiliar territory for the current Alabama players, but outside of redshirt junior linebacker Terrell Lewis and senior cornerback Trevon Diggs, they all seem to be embracing it.
