NEW ORLEANS – As the 2013 season comes to a close for Alabama, the players say they want to wash away the stain of the Iron Bowl with a strong showing in the Sugar Bowl.

“We’re going to try to follow in the footsteps of the past teams and try to finish with a bang,” senior defensive lineman Ed Stinson said.

The No. 3 Crimson Tide (11-1, 7-1 SEC) will face the No. 11 Oklahoma Sooners (10-2, 7-2 Big 12) in the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Thursday, Jan. 2.

Alabama and Oklahoma are two of the most successful college football programs in the sport’s history, as the Sooners have won 836 games, while the Crimson Tide has been victorious in 832. Yet the two storied universities have only met on the field four times.

Both teams enter the game with something to prove. Alabama hopes to erase the memories of Auburn’s last-second victory that tainted the Crimson Tide’s perfect season, and Oklahoma will try to defeat one of the top programs in the country and return to national prominence.

Oklahoma is a heavy underdog ahead of the bowl game, but Sooners head coach Bob Stoops doesn’t see it that way. He said Alabama is probably the best team he has faced in his 15 years at OU, but he will not motivate his players as being underdogs.

“I don’t see that, not at a place like Oklahoma,” Stoops said. “That isn’t something that we’ve ever – I don’t know how to do that, to be quite honest with you.”

Oklahoma defensive back Aaron Colvin had the same outlook as his head coach, and he praised the Crimson Tide program and its recent success.

“They are a great team and coached by one of the best coaches in the country,” Colvin said. “We are excited and ready to go out there and give it all we got. It will be a good game.”

But with both teams having a month-long break, there is plenty of room for either team to come out flat.

“The important thing about a bowl game is all about mindset,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said. “It’s really hard to bring the season to the bowl game because the amount of time in between opportunities to play. So how your team sort of resets their mindset is really important to how a team is going to prepare, how they’re going to focus, how they’re going to play in the game.”

In Alabama’s favor, it has several seniors that still have a bad taste in their mouths since the final whistle sounded in Jordan-Hare Stadium on Nov. 30.

Thursday will be the final game for players like quarterback AJ McCarron and linebacker C.J. Mosley, and the younger players and coaching staff want to send them and the other seniors out in an appropriate manner.

“I feel pretty good about how we’ve been practicing,” junior right tackle Austin Shepherd said. “Everyone’s been really sharp. Everybody wants to win it the right way and end the season on the right note.”

But for some, a chance to face another opponent – even if they also wear crimson uniforms – is enough to get excited for this football game.

“We’re really looking forward to getting back out there and hitting another team,” sophomore center Ryan Kelly said.

The game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. CT on ESPN from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.