In the regular season, the University of Alabama football team rarely travels farther than its road trip to Kyle Field. Even in the postseason, it’s rare for the Crimson Tide to exceed the near-1200 mile round-trip voyage. Since the 2009 postsesaon it’s happened only twice: the 2009 BCS national championship in Pasadena, Calif., and the 2012 championship game in Miami.
For those games, the team was seen off and welcomed back by hordes of fans on the tarmac of the airport it takes its charter jets from. For regular season games, the process is less celebratory, more business-like.