Alabama Athletics issues warning on tickets ahead of Georgia matchup

Ahead of a massive matchup with Georgia in Tuscaloosa on Saturday night, Alabama Athletics is warning fans about potential scam tickets for the game. The university ticket office sent out a message to fans on Wednesday, highlighting a few key details.

Along with being denied entry at the gate, fans with fraudulent tickets could be subject to investigation. Any fan found with counterfeit tickets in the premises of Bryant-Denny Stadium will be ejected.

And if fans are wondering about the validity of their tickets, they can visit the university ticket office during business hours — 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. CT — and at Gates 4 and 44 starting at 2 p.m. on game day.

“Unfortunately, counterfeit tickets — sold on the internet and by individuals around the stadium and on campus on game day — can lead to some fans being defrauded,” the message said, in part. “The UA Athletic Ticket Office would like to remind fans that any person who purchases a stolen or counterfeit ticket may be denied admission at the gates and any individual trying to gain entry with a ticket found to be fraudulent could be subject to investigation. Also, any person in the stadium who is caught with a stolen or counterfeit ticket will be ejected.”

The cheapest single ticket available for the Alabama-Georgia game — a Top 5 matchup — is $260 as of Wednesday evening on SeatGeek. The most expensive seats for the game are just more than $1,500.

Things will be different for this Alabama-Georgia showdown

Kirby Smart won’t see Nick Saban on the field during the game Saturday. But the Georgia head coach loves where the former Alabama coach is now: television.

That’s not to say he wouldn’t love to compete against the GOAT one more time. But Smart has to worry about Kalen DeBoer’s version of Alabama this weekend in Tuscaloosa.The video player is currently playing an ad. You can skip the ad in 5 sec with a mouse or keyboard

Saban will still be there though, just hosting on College GameDay is all. Smart for one, is glad to see his former boss enjoying what he does.

“He’s extremely thorough and enjoys what he does,” Smart said. “I’m thrilled that he gets an opportunity to do what he wants to do and being with who he wants to be with, with his family and enjoy that. I’m really happy he’s still part of college football because he makes college football better.”

Smart wasn’t the only one to praise Saban on ESPN’s iconic pregame show. Host Rece Davis called the former coach’s work “phenomenal.”

“He’s been phenomenal, Paul,” Davis said to Paul Finebaum on the latter’s show. “The thing that I’m not surprised by, but very impressed by, is the level of his engagement. He’s in our meetings during the week, and we’ll talk to him aside from the meetings.

“He’s all in, constantly learning, always wanting to be great and be perfect. And not one time has he come across in such a way that he’s like, ‘Hey, look at my seven championship rings and everybody listen to me.’ He would certainly have the résumé to do so and the credentials to do so if he wanted to. But he hasn’t approached it that way.”