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The Alabama Crimson Tide crushed Ohio State 52-24 in college football’s national championship game on Monday, ending the season a perfect 13-0.
The game capped a tumultuous college football season at times disrupted by the coronavirus — dozens of games were canceled and there was a real possibility that the season would never finish.
As the Nick Saban-led Crimson Tide reveled in their win, the song “Sweet Home Alabama” flooded the stadium, but only a few thousand Tide fans were there to sing along. Many of the team’s fans took to the streets of Tuscaloosa, Ala., to celebrate the win, and a lot of them didn’t wear masks.
Students and others poured out of jam-packed bars near campus as time expired in the game, traffic cameras and images posted on social media show. They gathered on University Boulevard in an area called “The Strip.”
“Cheer, celebrate, and enjoy the success of our team, but please do so responsibly and safely. Roll Tide!,” Police Chief Brent Blankley said in a statement beforehand. Police cars and officers are visible at the fringes of the throng in some images.
People lined up to get into the bars an hour before kickoff despite the warnings, The Tuscaloosa News reported. “All bars are open and we’re ready to roll over Ohio State,” said a tweet by Gallettes, a popular student bar, long before the game began.
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Photos and videos on social media showed thousands of fans getting together in large crowds without masks and practicing minimal social distancing. Such gatherings are strongly advised against by the CDC.
More than 5,300 people have died in Alabama from the illness caused by the coronavirus, and about 404,000 have tested positive. About 14,200 people have tested positive in Tuscaloosa County, making it one of the worst in the state for the virus in overall numbers.
The news comes as the number of confirmed global cases of the coronavirus-borne illness COVID-19 climbed above 91 million, and total cases in the U.S. headed toward 23 million
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
