Before Alabama takes the field against Kansas State in Saturday’s Sugar Bowl, Nick Saban will hold his usual “Hey Coach” radio show Thursday night.

The show, broadcasting from the team hotel in New Orleans, begins at 6 p.m. CT.

Check back here for live updates once Saban begins.

FIRST SEGMENT

— “Happy New Year to all out there,” Saban begins to the room.

— “The players on the team that are here sort of reflect what the team is all about. … They chose to take advantage of the opportunity they have to play against a good team in the Sugar Bowl.”

— Saban said going to bowl games is a reward for players and fans for having a good season, and that’s special about college football. “I think it’s a little bit unfortunate,” Saban said of the creation of the playoff minimizing bowl games. He said Alabama has “something to prove” in the Sugar Bowl. “It’s interesting to see how everyone responds,” he said, noting Kansas State beat a team in the playoff and would have an argument for the CFP.

— Asked by John Parker Wilson what Bryce Young and Will Anderson reveals about the team’s culture, Saban said both are “special people.” As leaders, they both wanted participate. Saban said some players opt out of bowl games and “that’s not a really good thing for college football.” He questioned how players can “get ready” for the NFL draft by not playing. He said the NFL combine is not a reflection of real football, noting how Tom Brady was “killed” for his combine tests but could play quarterback well.

— “It sets a great example and sends a message to a lot of other players,” Saban said.

— Saban said he coached against Brady at Michigan State when Brady alternated with Drew Henson at quarterback for Michigan. Saban said Brady scored all the points against MSU.

— Saban said they want players to travel in packs in New Orleans to stay safe. They wanted players in general to do more together, and they’ve done that this week in New Orleans.

— Saban said if bowl games remain part of the 12-team playoff, there will need to be more of a shorter, “business trip” schedule to bowl games because there will be another game to prepare for after that.

— Saban said you will remember how the game went, no matter how much fun you had at a bowl game. “I think for our team, we’ve got a little bit to prove, in terms of we thought we maybe had a chance to get into the playoffs and didn’t.”

— “It’s a huge deal” for young players to have 11 practices ahead of the bowl game, Saban said, noting young players have already improved because of the reps they’ve received given injuries and transfer portal losses. Saban said there are 10 incoming freshmen able to practice at the bowl site starting this year.

SECOND SEGMENT

— “Players have to be able to resilient to whatever the circumstance they have to play in,” Saban said of an 11 a.m. CT kickoff.

— First caller PeeWee — in the room for the show — asked about controlling the line of scrimmage. “That’s always important,” Saban said. “[Kansas State] does a good job of running the ball. … So how we play up front on defense is going to be huge.”

— Kansas State plays a 3-3 stack defense with less players in the box but eight players dropped into coverage. “To be able to run the ball and have great balance against a team like this is of utmost importance,” he said.

— Alabama’s depth is affected, Saban said. “I think everybody knows the guys that opted out for whatever reasons,” Saban said of players who transferred. He said the starting offensive line is all experienced but the backups are not as much.

— Alabama could watch all of Kansas State’s season of film because of their prep time, instead of the usual past four games. Defense requires adapting to new looks on offense, so changing defensive scheme with new wrinkles can be difficult.

— “I think we have a good plan on offense,” Saban said, adding he hopes Alabama can effectively run and pass during the game.

— Saban said Adrian Martinez is the better runner of Kansas State’s quarterbacks and Will Howard is the better passer. He said Deuce Vaughn is the “heart and soul” of K-State and he’s “as good of a competitor, pound for pound, of anybody we’ve played against.” He said K-State’s style changes a little bit given the quarterback but they have more balance with Howard in the game.

— Asked a specific question about two-minute defense, Saban gave a story about coaching against the Dallas Cowboys with the Cleveland Browns. They punted back to the Cowboys with a minute-plus left. He provided his players two different defenses depending on which side of the 50-yard line the offense was, but the Cowboys returned the punt to the 50-yard line. “You have to be able to execute whatever it is you’re going to do,” Saban said, noting man-to-man risks big plays and zone can “shrink the game” by forcing shorter throws.

— Saban said Tennessee got the ball back with 15 seconds against Alabama. He went through the coverages they played and how they didn’t execute their coverage.

THIRD SEGMENT

— Asked about spending Christmas with grandchildren, Saban said the downtime refreshes him.

— Mark Ingram joins the show, getting a hug from Saban.

— Saban said he still has a picture of Ingram scoring against Texas in 2009 behind his couch. “It’s something you really don’t forget,” he said. “There’s this underlying, sort of, respect and admiration you have for all the players on the team.”

— Saban said he “always cherishes” how the 2009 recruiting class came to Alabama when the team wasn’t very good, and they trusted in what Saban was trying to build. He repeated the story of how Alabama players turned down $1,000 each to travel to their bowl game to instead take a charter.

— “We had a special group of guys,” Ingram said. “Just to be part of a brotherhood like that — the Alabama brother is something I didn’t know about growing up.” He said you could tell the difference between Big Ten and SEC games on TV when he was growing up in Michigan. “I had to go be a champ,” he said of turning down Michigan State.

— Saban talked about being in charge of Michigan State in the 1980s when Mark Ingram’s father and Andre Rison played there, and it was his job to get them to go to class. Saban said he would call Ingram’s father’s girlfriend to get him to get to class. “I’m the one you used to call,” Ingram’s mother later told Saban when he was recruiting Mark Ingram the younger.

Mike Rodak is an Alabama beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mikerodak.