After a wacky college football season with plenty of upsets and a surprise entry in the College Football Playoff (Cincinnati), the 2022 College Football Playoff National Championship Game will feature No. 1 Alabama vs. No. 3 Georgia at Lucas Oil Stadium. Indianapolis is the first cold-weather city to host the game since the CFP’s inception in 2014, and the game will be a rematch of last month’s SEC Championship Game. Alabama won that one, 41-24.
In a recent ranking by VegasInsider.comof the NCAA football teams with the most “bandwagon” fans, Alabama came out on top among all Division I teams, with Georgia landing at No. 16. In another surveyof 2,000 college football fans, Alabama was cited for having the “worst behaved” fans among all Power Five conferences.
Here 20 numbers to keep in mind when you watch:
• 150,000,000: Estimated economic impact, in dollars, for Indianapolis (wishtv.com)
• 100,000: Estimated number of visitors the city expects over four days, beginning Jan. 7 (insideindianabusiness.com)
• 24: Number of hours in which it took more than 30 downtown Indianapolis hotel rooms to sell out after the conclusion of the College Football Playoff Semifinals on Dec. 31 (wrtv.com)
• 2017: Year in which Indianapolis was awarded the 2022 National Championship Game (insideindianabusiness.com)
• 67,000: Seating capacity at Lucas Oil Stadium (lucasoilstadium.com)
• 65,236: Seating capacity at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., which hosted the 2021 National Championship Game in January 2021 (vnews.com)
• 14,926: Number of spectators attending the 2021 National Championship Game, because of COVID-19 protocols (collegefootballplayoff.com)
• 77: High temperature, in degrees Fahrenheit, in Miami Gardens on Jan. 11, 2021, the day of the 2021 National Championship Game (accuweather.com)
• 30: Estimated high temperature, in degrees Fahrenheit, in Indianapolis on Jan. 10, 2022, the day of the 2022 National Championship Game (accuweather.com)
• 600: Minimum number of members and volunteers on the 2022 College Football Playoff Indianapolis Host Committee (wishtv.com)
• 2,000: Estimated total number of local volunteers expected to be involved in hosting the National Championship Game (wrtv.com)
• 1,000: Estimated total number of credentialed media and sponsors expected to attend the game (wrtv.com)
• 54,000: Amount, in dollars, the Indianapolis Host Committee donated to high schools across the state in fall 2021 as part of the inaugural Indiana Tailgate Tour (indyfootball2022.com)
• 22: Number of football-centric posters created by 22 central Indiana-based graphic designers and illustrators that are on display at the Indianapolis International Airport through Jan. 11 as part of the committee’s 22 For 22 Playoff Poster Show (indyfootball2022.com)
• 246: Number of sporting events, conventions and trade shows scheduled for Indianapolis between Dec. 24, 2021, and Dec. 31, 2022 — with more on the way (ibj.com)
• 187: Number of college football national champions crowned since 1869, with some years seeing two or three national champs (NCAA.org)
• 44: Number of teams that have won those championships (NCAA.org)
• 18: Number of national titles for Yale University, which has won the most, most recently in 1927 (NCAA.org)
• 16: Number of national titles for Alabama, most recently in 2020, which ranks second (NCAA.org)
• 200,000,000: Estimated economic impact loss, in millions of dollars, to the Tuscaloosa area had Alabama not played football in 2020 because of COVID-19. (al.com)
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