Beautiful night in a football-town

By Mark Etheridge - March 09, 2007

I've waited five weeks for one of these. It is shirt-sleeve weather in Tuscaloosa tonight as Nebraska visits Alabama. Both teams were National seeds a season ago and but have been inconsistent in the early weeks this year. Still, it is hard not to think about the great football traditions these teams have. Driving in on Bryant Drive, past Bryant-Denny Stadium and the Bryant Museum -- I think you get the gist of it. Football is big here - and even bigger after adding Nick Satan a few months back.

Football is the talk 365 days a year. Hopefully for these three days, they'll tolerate what should be a great weekend series on the diamond.

Some lineup notes. Bryce Nimmo may not play at all this weekend after an injury last weekend. Jake Opitz leads Nebraska with a .343 average, two home runs, and 10 RBI. Tony Watson is on the hill. He's 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA in 12 innings. Alabama will start Miers Quigley. He is 2-0 with a 1.48 in 24 1/3 IP. Kent Matthes leads the Crimson Tide in hitting with a .387 average, five homers, and 23 RBI.