Alabama fell out of the running for the national championship Saturday, but the consolation prize is, in the words of Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban, “as good as it gets.”

The school with the nation’s most bowl appearances (55) will add to its legacy against undefeated Utah in the Allstate Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on Jan. 2.

The Crimson Tide (12-1), ranked fourth in the BCS standings, will face the No. 6 Utes (12-0) at 6:30 p.m. in the Superdome.

“It’s a gift from heaven,” Sugar Bowl CEO Paul Houlihan said on a bowl teleconference Sunday night. “Dreams come true. It’s the 75th anniversary of the playing of the Sugar Bowl Classic. To be able to bring back a school with the history and tradition and the long-term association with the Sugar Bowl that Alabama has had is just a remarkable occurrence for us.”

Alabama has been the Sugar Bowl 12 times, more than any other bowl. The Tide is 8-4. It will be the program’s first Sugar Bowl appearance since the 1993 game, when it won the 1992 national championship in a 34-13 victory over Miami.

Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, who was the Utes’ defensive coordinator under Urban Meyer before he left for Florida five year ago, said his team had expected a Sugar Bowl appearance for weeks.

“We knew, obviously, we were going to be playing a heck of a football team no matter what shook out as far as the SEC Championship Game,” Whittingham said.

He watched the Florida-Alabama game with particular interest.

“I watched every snap of the game yesterday,” Whittingham said. “I’ll tell you what, I believe they’re the most physical football team in the country at the line of scrimmage. A great power running game on offense and big, physical, active defensive linemen. So we’ve got our hands full and our work cut out for us.”

Utah, champion of the Mountain West Conference, has been impressive while building a perfect season. But Whittingham said the opportunity to finish against Alabama has his team very excited.

“It’s a great way for our seniors to end their career,” the coach said. “We started with Michigan in the Big House and we’ll end playing Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. That’s a heck of a way to go out as a senior.”

Saban said Utah reminds him a bit of his own team — not in style, but in heart.

“This is the kind of team that we have. It’s a little bit inspirational,” Saban said. “They’ve played really well, played with a lot of consistency, played with a lot of heart. I think a lot of people identify with that.

“They beat Michigan on the road. Beat Oregon State. Wyoming beat Tennessee and they beat Wyoming. So this is a really, really good football team. They’re sixth in the country for a reason.”

Whittingham said his team uses parts of the same spread philosophies that Meyer left.

“As far as the basis of what we do — spread people out, employ the option element into our scheme, get a lot of wide receivers on the field — a lot of those similarities are there,” Whittingham said. “We don’t have Tim Tebow; we have Brian Johnson. Brian’s a little different quarterback than Tim. Tim is a tremendous ball carrier and Brian’s more of a thrower. We’ve adapted the scheme based on his strengths.”

Of course, he joked, “I’ll be on the phone to Urban Meyer on my car ride home, I’ll tell you that right now.”

Saban said facing Meyer’s spread was challenging. Facing Whittingham’s will be, too.

“Even though you usually think of Ohio State and Michigan and teams like that, those are the kind of teams that they’ve been able to beat,” Saban said. “So even though they may not have the marquee name, they certainly have an outstanding team that has beaten some of those marquee names this year. It’s certainly something our players are going to have to respect and prepare for and do a great job of if we’re going to have a chance to be successful.”

Saban said his players are disappointed with the outcome of the Florida game. The Tide has final exams this week and will stay off the practice field.

“The SEC Championship Game didn’t go quite as we planned,” Saban said. “But this is about as good as it gets in terms of being able to come to the Sugar Bowl.”

Houlihan said both teams will be given 17,500 tickets each. He expected a big demand for more, but noted tickets are already committed to season ticket holders, corporate sponsors and others.