TAMPA, Fla. – It may not be in Pasadena for the Rose Bowl, but a New Year’s Eve bowl game still is a battle between the two winningest programs in college football.

Michigan and Alabama head down to central Florida for the Dec. 31 ReliaQuest Bowl in a rematch of last season’s Rose Bowl and College Football Playoff semifinal.

This is the first non-playoff postseason game for the Wolverines since the 2020 Capital One Bowl, also against the Crimson Tide. Michigan also last played in Florida in the 2021 Orange Bowl, which served as a playoff semifinal.

This year’s bowl can serve as a warm weather destination for Michigan snowbirds. Here’s everything you need to know about the 2024 ReliaQuest Bowl, from tickets to weather to travel.

Michigan-Alabama game info

Kickoff: Noon

Where: Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida

The teams: Michigan (7-5, beat Ohio State 13-10) versus No. 11 Alabama (9-3, beat Auburn 28-14)

How to watch: ESPN (streaming on Watch ESPN, Fubo, DirecTV and Sling TV)

Michigan-Alabama betting odds: Alabama -10.5 (Michigan a massive underdog in bowl matchup with Alabama)

How to buy tickets

The ReliaQuest Bowl has partnered with Ticketmaster to offer $80 for regular seats and $170 for club seats. There are still several tickets in this price range.

You can also find tickets on the secondary market for around $83 to $91 from Stubhub, Vivid Seats and SeatGeek.

Weather forecast

It will most likely be ideal Florida weather with a temperatures of 75 degrees, according to the 10-day Weather Channel forecast. There is also a 15% chance of rain.

Historic battle

Michigan and Alabama football is as classic as college football gets, from the uniforms to fight songs to the bands.

New Year’s Eve will also serve as a tiebreaker in the series between the programs. The Wolverines and Crimson Tide are tied 3-3 in their previous six games.

The first matchup coincidentally took place in Tampa in 1988 when the game was known as the Hall of Fame Bowl. The Wolverines won 28-24 on a last-minute touchdown pass from Demetrius Brown to John Kolesar.

The Tide won three of the next five, including wins in 1997, 2012 and 2020. The other two Michigan wins both took place in overtime, including the 2000 Orange Bowl (behind the arm of Tom Brady) and last season’s Rose Bowl (behind the legs of Blake Corum).

Big screen viewing for homebound Wolverines

Three Emagine Theater chains in Michigan, including the one in Saline, will show the ESPN broadcast.

Tickets cost $20, and doors open at 11:30 a.m. Emagine Saline, 1335 E. Michigan Ave., has tickets available at Emagine-Entertainment.com.

Seating is limited to theater capacity, Emagine officials said in a Dec. 19 release.

The other two Emagine locations are in Royal Oak at 200 North Main St. and Novi at 44425 West 12 Mile Road.

Read more: Catch Michigan-Alabama on the big screen at this theater south of Ann Arbor

Gameday parking

The parking lots open at 8 a.m. at Raymond James Stadium. All parking is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Car and motorcycle parking costs $40, while premium parking costs $50. Buses, camper and limousines can park for $160 in Lot 8. There is no overnight parking available on stadium property.

All parking is mobile. A limited number of parking spaces are available to be purchased in advance by clicking here.

Prepaid parking for cars and motorcycles is $35, while prepaid premium parking is $45. Prepaid RV parking is $140.

You can also park north of the stadium at Al Lopez Park and Tampa Jesuit High School. Taxis and rideshares drop off passengers at the pedestrian bridge on Dale Mabry Highway northwest of the stadium’s Ford Gate. Pickup for rideshares is at Steinbrenner Field lots or the mass transit location across from the bridge.

Flights to Tampa

Need a last-second flight to Tampa? Expect some spend some on a plane ticket.

Tickets from Detroit to Tampa for Dec. 30 are as low as $378 on Spirit and $688 on Delta.

Where to tailgate, party in Tampa

You are able to tailgate in your parking spot near the stadium. You must keep lanes clear for emergency vehicles.

There are certain restrictions, like no throwing or kicking balls, no tents without prior approval, no kegs, no amplified sound systems, no fireworks and more. The full parking lot rules can be found here.

Tampa is known for its waterways, which you can explore on the Pirate Water Taxi or Yacht Starship. There’s the trolley that takes you around the Ybor City Historic District, home to cigar rolling and the 120-year-old Spanish-Cuban eatery Columbia Restaurant.

There are also dozens of golf courses, including professional ones like TPC Tampa Bay and Saddlebrook Resort Tampa.

What to bring and what not to bring

Here is a full list of prohibited items for the stadium.

New coach’s first bowl game

Head coach Sherrone Moore ended the regular season on a high note with an upset over national title contender and rival Ohio State. Now he gets his first crack at a bowl game, something that has been a thorn in many a Wolverine coach’s side.

Moore’s predecessor Jim Harbaugh went just 3-6 in the postseason. After a rout over Florida in the 2016 Citrus Bowl, Harbaugh’s teams lost four straight bowl games and two straight playoff semifinals. He broke the streak with last year’s Rose Bowl and national title game wins.

Brady Hoke also won his first bowl, an overtime win over Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl. He and Rich Rodriguez lost their other three bowl games.

The winningest coach in program history Bo Schembechler famously had issues in bowl games, going 5-12 during his 20-year tenure from 1969 to 1989.

Gary Moeller and Lloyd Carr had the most success in Michigan football history in bowl games, winning a combined 10 from 1990 to 2007. That included a 6-2 mark against Southeastern Conference teams.

Wolverine fans are hoping Moore is more like Carr or Moeller in this regard.

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Michigan State men’s basketball is already 12 games into its season, and while it’s already more than a third of the way through, the true test is only about to start.

The Spartans have certainly been battle tested, and with a win over Western Michigan on Monday, they would set themselves up nicely going into the new year. In order for them to continue to excel when they resume Big Ten play next week, they will need to continue to do what’s gotten them to the No. 18 spot in the nation: excelling as a team.

Everyone seems to be playing well right now, and it’s that unselfish team play that has led to their strong start.

On this episode of the Michigan State Spartans Insider Podcast, our Aidan Champion tells host Bryan Anthony Davis who he thinks has impressed so far this season, as well as who still needs to step up.

You can watch the epsiode below:

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo addressed the media on Saturday as he and his team get ready for their home matchup with Western Michigan. Below is a partial transcript from his media availability:

Q: How do you keep the team in-sync right now?

Izzo: “Yeah, I’m normally not — I’m more of a pessimist than an optimist, but we came back, we had a great practice the 26th for like an hour and 15, and then, we went two-a-days yesterday, had two really good practices, and today was phenomenal. At the end, we got a little tired, which we should, and now we’re into one-a-days with some meetings. But really pleased by the way they’re kind of — strength in numbers is really helping us right now.”

Q: You don’t love these games against former assistants?

Izzo: “Yeah, I don’t. I don’t like them. I like them because I think it’s really good for them, from the standpoint they get to play here and make some money, but it’s not good for me. I mean, there’s a guy [Dwayne Stephens] that I coached and worked for me for a lot of years. And the funniest part is he’s got a good team, they just haven’t played together. He’s had three guys that have been out a lot, two guys that are really good players. His best player has only played in three games. So the scouting reports — they are a little different. The kid’s averaging 17 a game since he’s come back, and we don’t have a lot on him. Here’s a team that lost a 20-point lead and lost the last game that was a killer. But it’s also a team that was 10-up on Dayton; we thought Dayton was one of the best teams in Maui. So, they got a couple of guys that can really fill it up, they got size, they got big size, and I’d say DJ knows our system pretty good.”

Don’t forget to follow the official Spartan Nation Page on Facebook Spartan Nation WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE, and be a part of our vibrant community group Go Green Go White as well WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.

Michigan closes out the nonconference portion of its schedule with a chance to do something it hasn’t done the past few years: Avoid a bad loss to end the year.

Michigan hosts Western Kentucky on Sunday (8 p.m. ET, BTN). The Wolverines are 9-3 overall, with each defeat coming by one possession against a high-major opponent. They’ve had no problems in the other games.

That wasn’t the case in recent seasons. Michigan lost to McNeese State in its final game of 2023 and to Central Michigan in the last game of 2022. Michigan fell to a middling UCF team, albeit on the road, to close out 2021.

Three times over the last two seasons, the Wolverines essentially paid an opponent to come to Crisler Center and beat them (McNeese, Central Michigan, and Long Beach State). The Hilltoppers will collect $85,000 for their appearance on Sunday. Michigan will try to make sure that’s all they leave with.

Michigan last played on Sunday, using hot shooting to demolish Purdue Fort Wayne 89-58. Michigan shot 63 percent from the field and made 10 3s. For the fourth time this season, at least five Wolverines reached double figures. Tre Donaldson led the way with 16 points.

Michigan coach Dusty May said he is “relatively happy” with his team’s record to date, despite the tough losses. Teams that are playing their best in December typically aren’t still playing in late March. May is seeking — and seeing — steady improvement.

The Wolverines fell out of the AP Top-25 this week but entered Saturday at No. 24 in the NET and No. 22 in the kenpom rankings. When they resume Big Ten play next week in Los Angeles, they’ll do so as the betting favorite to win the league.

That won’t change so long as they don’t overlook Western Kentucky, which will make the trip from Bowling Green. The Hilltoppers (119 in the NET, 110 at kenpom) are also 9-3, though they have just one top-100 win (Lipscomb at home). They play a fast, isolation-heavy offense. As a 15 seed in last year’s NCAA Tournament, they led Marquette by seven at halftime before losing. It earned Steve Lutz, who’d been there just one season, the job at Oklahoma State (replacing Mike Boynton Jr., now a Michigan assistant). Hank Plona, Lutz’s top assistant and a former junior college head coach, took over. Western Kentucky was picked second in the Conference USA preseason poll.

Don McHenry, a 6-foot-2 shooting guard, is averaging 18.5 points per game. He’s scored at least 28, while making four 3s, in each of the past three games. The most recent performance was last Saturday, so both teams may have to shake off some holiday rust.

That’s been an issue for Michigan in recent years, a pre-New Year’s sign of the struggles to come. This squad, in May’s first year on the job, looks different. Before the Wolverines enter the big, bad Big Ten for good, they’ll look to handle business and end 2024 strong.

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