Next Monday, January 8th, the college football playoff concludes with an all-SEC championship game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, featuring the No.3 Georgia Bulldogs and the No.4 Alabama Crimson Tide.
Alabama will be playing in its third straight national title game, and sixth in the last nine seasons, while UGA is looking for their first championship since 1980.
With plenty of NFL talent on both sides of the ball, all focus will be on Mercedes-Benz Stadium at 8pm ET on January 8th, including that of President Donald Trump. According to Greg Bluestein of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Trump and his wife Melania will be at the game and will be hosted by Georgia native Nick Ayers, who is Vice President Mike Pence's chief of staff.
Bluestein reports that White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders opened her press briefing on Tuesday by congratulating the SEC schools “from two great states, both in the heart of Trump country.” Trump had won both Georgia and Alabama in the 2016 Presidential election, but Alabama voters elected Democrat Doug Jones to the U.S. Senate over Trump-endorsed Republican Roy Moore in December.
The National Championship game is scheduled to kickoff at 8pm ET, airing on ESPN and the WatchESPN app. Both teams rank in the Top-10 in rushing offense, with Georgia ranked 8th and Alabama 10th. The Crimson Tide come into the matchup ranked #1 in total defense as opposed to the Bulldogs, who check in 6th overall.