New Orleans » Every day they visit their football complex in Tuscaloosa, Alabama's football players pass black and white photos documenting Alabama's participation in the Sugar Bowl. In his bedroom, Alabama quarterback John Parker Wilson has a photo of George Teague in the 1993 Sugar Bowl, a game in which the Tide's famous defensive back scored a touchdown off an interception and made the famous "strip" play that preserved the Alabama win.

For Alabama, being in New Orleans for a bowl game isn't just about ending a season of success in a fun city, it's about the school's heritage.

"It goes deep," Wilson said of Alabama's ties to the Sugar Bowl.

With 13 appearances by the Tide, the tradition goes deeper than any other school's other than LSU, which also has 13 appearances. The Tide have won four of their 12 national titles here and the legendary Paul Bear Bryant coached Alabama in eight Sugar Bowls, winning all but one.

That history adds to the motivation Alabama has for wanting to beat the Utah Utes Friday, the players say. Not only do they not want to lose, but they don't want to lose in their bowl.

"It means a lot to us," said tight end Travis McCall. "It's one of the greatest bowls of all time and it's an honor to play in it."

Alabama made its first appearance in 1945 when Duke scored the last nine points to beat the Tide 29-26. After another loss in 1948, Alabama had an incredible run of Sugar Bowls, winning seven of its next nine.

Many of those contests stand out as memorable ones in Alabama football lore. Bryant won his first national title at Alabama in the 1962 game; in 1964 Alabama needed four field goals to beat Ole Miss and in 1973, Notre Dame upset the No. 1 ranked Tide 24-23 with a late field goal.

The best Sugar Bowl win of all was the 1979 "Goal Line Stand" game, when Alabama withstood a fourth-quarter goal-line assault that denied Penn State of the tying touchdown.

The game gave not only Alabama a national title, but one of the more humorous moments in Sugar Bowl history. After third down, Penn State players came to the line to see how close the ball was to the goal line. Alabama defender Marty Lyons leaned over and offered a tip to the Nittany Lions. "You better pass," he said.

They should have listened to him. Instead, Alabama All-American Barry Krause stuffed Penn State's Matt Guman on fourth down.

That series of plays is rivaled only by the 1993 performance when Teague and the Alabama defense shut down Miami's highly touted passing attack and beat the Hurricanes 34-13. Teague returned an interception 31 yards for a touchdown and on another play stripped the ball from Miami receiver Lamar Thomas just as he was nearing the end zone.

Since that game few probably imagined 14 years would pass since the Tide would get a chance to be in the Sugar Bowl again. Now that they are here, Alabama's players don't want to waste the opportunity they're given.

"It's not just directly about winning for Alabama but for the SEC," center Antoine Caldwell said. "We worked hard to get here and we're proud to represent the SEC. That is what we're here to do."