Free Press sports writer Joe Rexrode breaks down the Cotton Bowl, a College Football Playoff national semifinal game.
When: 8 p.m. Thursday.
Where: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas.
TV/radio: ESPN, WJR-AM (760).
Line: Crimson Tide by 10.
Alabama
Out: WR Robert Foster (shoulder), WR Chris Black (ankle).
Michigan State
Out: LB Ed Davis (knee), CB Vayante Copeland (fractured vertebrae), OT Dennis Finley (leg), S Jalen Watts-Jackson (hip), S Khari Willis (foot).
A Texas-Sized Stage
Michigan State football hasn't played in a game of this magnitude since the 1966 "Game of the Century," a 10-10 tie between No.