From all reports, the Alabama football weekend began Thursday afternoon in Tuscaloosa. The Friday environment was almost as intense as some game days against lesser foes. Saturday will be amped up even more.
Paul Finebaum was already in town, doing his Friday afternoon tv/radio show. Saturday morning, both ESPN GameDay and SEC Nation are broadcasting from the Capstone.
The last time Tuscaloosa had this much frenzy surrounding a game was in 2011. On that November Saturday, it was estimated more than 30 thousand people, without tickets and with no hope of finding any, came to hang out near Bryant-Denny Stadium.