Alabama game notes: Announcers set tide set for rare open…

Alabama and Michigan will meet for a spot in the last national championship game in the four-team era of the College Football Playoff on Jan.
The iconic Rose Bowl stage in Pasadena, Calif., will host to the game. It’s the sixth time the Crimson Tide has met the Wolverines (3-2). ESPN’s Chris Fowler Kirk Herbstreit, Laura Rutledge and Holly Rowe will be on the broadcast for the 4 p.m. CT. kickoff.
On the Crimson Tide Sports Network, it’ll be Chris Stewart, Tyler Watts and Roger Hoover. Eli Gold hasn’t traveled with the team this season, only calling home games. (He did call the Birmingham Bowl on Friday, Dec. 23.) For Michigan’s cast, it’ll be Doug Karsch, Jon Jansen and Jason Avant.
ESPN’s radio broadcast features Joe Tessitore, Dusty Dvoracek and Quint Kessenich. ESPN will also have its typical megacast for the CFP.
Here are some takeaways from the game notes, which both teams released this past week.
–Alabama will hold its first open practices in nearly one year (Sugar Bowl against Kansas State), with media getting a “limited viewing period at the beginning” of a session on Thursday, Dec. 28 and Saturday, Dec. 30.
Typically, UA Athletics releases an edited clip of practices from Tuscaloosa which are closed otherwise.
–Alabama will also put both its head coordinators in front of a microphone for the first time since the preseason as Tommy Rees and Kevin Steele are scheduled to discuss the matchup against No. 1 Michigan.