The second-ranked Alabama football team spent two hours working out inside AT&T Stadium on Sunday, working in full pads in preparation for the Tide’s second consecutive appearance in the College Football Playoff.

The Sunday session was the Crimson Tide’s ninth of 11 total practices in preparation for the 2015 College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic. Alabama will meet with Big Ten Champions Michigan State on Thursday, Dec. 31, New Year’s Eve, for a spot in the national championship game. The Tide and Spartans will kick off at 7 p.m. CT on ESPN with Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit calling the game from the booth and Heather Cox working on the sidelines.

Sunday morning began with offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin joining Jake Coker, Kenyan Drake, Derrick Henry, Ryan Kelly and Richard Mullaney at the Omni Hotel for a roughly hour-long press conference with the media. The team then split for individual meetings before heading to AT&T Stadium for an 11 a.m. workout. Alabama will wrap up the day at Main Event Entertainment for team fun that includes bowling, billiards, karaoke and video games.

Monday will begin with defensive coordinator Kirby Smart and five members of the defense meeting with the media in the morning before the team returns to AT&T Stadium for a third full practice in Texas. The practice will be followed by a team visit to Children’s Medical Center of Dallas.

Alabama and Michigan State will meet for the second time in the storied history of the two programs. The lone matchup between the teams came in the 2011 Capital One Bowl in Orlando, Fla. The Crimson Tide came away with a 49-7 victory over the Spartans in that game.

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