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What you should know about the Alabama vs. Missouri football game

What you should know about the Alabama vs. Missouri football game

The University of Alabama is celebrating its homecoming this weekend with the theme “New Era, Same Standard.”

Homecoming ends with the Alabama-Missouri football game, scheduled to begin at 2:45 p.m. Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium with ABC television coverage. The gates to the stadium will open at 12:30 p.m

More: Where to Find the Biggest Elephants in Tuscaloosa

Fans can look forward to sunny skies and temperatures in the 80s. The game is sold out, but tickets are available at www.seatgeek.com with prices starting at about $50.

Here’s what you need to know about activities before and during the game:

Homecoming activities

The homecoming pep rally begins at 6:30 p.m. Friday on the Quad, followed by a bonfire.

The pep rally will include the announcement of the Homecoming Queen, as well as performances by the Million Dollar Band and UA cheerleaders, as well as appearances by UA elephant mascot Big Al and guest speakers.

Following the bonfire, there will be a drone light show around 7:30 p.m

Former Alabama running back Shaun Alexander will be the grand marshal of the homecoming parade, which begins at 10 a.m. Saturday at Hudson Poole Fine Jewelers on Greensboro Avenue. The parade turns east onto University Boulevard and continues to the UA campus.

Pre-game entertainment

Champions Lane, a 60,000-square-foot entertainment space, opens at 10:30 a.m. northwest of Bryant-Denny Stadium on the lawn behind the Tuska statue.

Entry to the area is free. It includes a concert stage, food trucks from World of Beer and Texas Roadhouse, a beer garden lounge with comfortable seating, LED video boards for fans to watch other college football games in progress, an autograph tent and more.

The Crimson Tide Sports Network’s pregame radio broadcast will be broadcast live from the Bud Light Backyard Concert Stage beginning at 11:30 a.m

Singer-songwriter Easton Corbin will perform a free concert on the same stage from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. Country-rock band Smith Distillery will perform from 10:30 a.m. to 11:15 a.m

Autograph opportunities include former UA running back Kenyan Drake at 10:30 a.m. in the T-Mobile tent, members of the UA women’s basketball team at 11 a.m. and women’s volleyball teams at 12: 30 p.m. at the Alabama Department of Public Health tent.

Champions Lane will be closed when the game begins.

For a map of the area, visit Championslane.com/champions-lane-map.

From 9 to 11 a.m., SEC Nation will broadcast live in front of Wade Hall, across University Boulevard from Denny Chimes. The show, which airs on the SEC Network, features host Laura Rutledge as well as former UA player Roman Harper, Paul Finebaum, Tim Tebow, Jordan Rogers, Marty Smith and Ryan McGee.

Elsewhere on campus, the Paul W. Bryant Museum, 300 Paul W. Bryant Drive, will be open on game day and will feature memorabilia and exhibits from every era of Alabama football from Wallace Wade to Nick Saban and Kalen DeBoer. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children. For more information, visit https://bryantmuseum.com.

For more information on tailgating, parking, traffic and more, visit uagameday.com.

Walk of Champions/Elephant Stomp

Two of UA’s most popular pregame rituals take place within walking distance of Bryant-Denny Stadium: the Walk of Champions and the Elephant Stomp.

Fans can cheer on UA ​​football players Kalen DeBoer and the UA coaching staff as they arrive by bus to the game on the Walk of Champions on the north side of the stadium at 12:20 p.m. Also on this side of the stadium are statues of Alabama’s national coaches – Paul W. “Bear” Bryant, Nick Saban, Gene Stallings, Frank Thomas and Wallace Wade.

The Elephant Stomp, a pregame pep rally featuring elephant mascot Big Al, the Million Dollar Band and UA cheerleaders, begins at 1:30 p.m. in the Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library. The band will play the school fight song “Yea Alabama” and then march down Colonial Drive and lead Crimson Tide fans into the stadium.

In the stadium

At halftime, the 2024 Homecoming Queen will be crowned and the Homecoming Court will be recognized.

A pregame flyover is planned with the 37th Flying Training Squadron from Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi.

UA’s honorary game captains will be Shaun Alexander and Chris Samuels.

Shelby McEwen, an Alabama native who won the silver medal in the high jump at the 2024 Paris Olympics, will be honored during the break between the first and second quarters.

Reach Ken Roberts at [email protected].