Alabama coach Nick Saban said Sunday night that the Crimson Tide can take a lot away from its crushing 34-28 loss to Auburn in last Saturday’s Iron Bowl.

Alabama will have its first chance to do so on January 2, when it faces the Oklahoma Sooners in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.

“There’s a lot of lessons to be learned from the game that we played,” Saban said Sunday night on a conference call, the first time he has addressed the media since the Iron Bowl. “Hopefully the players will learn and grow and be stronger in the future because of it.”

The Crimson Tide will be returning to New Orleans for the first time since its 21-0 BCS National Championship Game win over LSU to end the 2011 season.

“We’ve had a great standing tradition with the Sugar Bowl and the University of Alabama, and it’s been a wonderful experience for our players and our team,” Saban said. “To play someone that has the tradition and respect that we have for the university of Oklahoma is a real honor for our team.”

The Sooners are coming off of a 10-2 season. They finished the year with a thrilling 33-24 win over their cross-state rival, Oklahoma State, on Saturday.

Oklahoma scored a touchdown with 19 seconds left to take the lead in Stillwater.

“They’ve got a great competitive character about them to come back and win that game,” Saban said of Oklahoma. “They’re great competitors, they always play with tremendous toughness and they’re always very well coached. This will be a challenging game for us no doubt.”

Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops praised the way Alabama has played this season and has played under Saban.

“I think it’s incredible what Nick Saban and Alabama has done for the last four years. We get it. We understand what a challenge it will be,” Stoops said. “I appreciate good football and they play it. And they play it the right way. I’ve got great respect for how they play the game.”

Stoops also had high praise for Crimson Tide quarterback AJ McCarron.

“I think AJ McCarron is the best player in the country. I really do,” he said. “If I had a (Heisman) vote, that’s who I’d vote for.”

While it isn’t exactly how Alabama wanted to finish the season, Saban said there is still a lot to take away from playing in a BCS bowl, and it can provide a learning experience for next season.

“I’m hopeful that our team will look at this as a challenge and opportunity for them to prove the kind of football team that we can be,” Saban said. “You hope that how well you do in a bowl game improves the young players on your team and gives them a better opportunity to have a good understanding of what it takes to be successful at this level.”