LOS ANGELES -- As 2017 comes to a close, so to the Georgia Bulldogs and Oklahoma Sooners' preparations for the Rose Bowl.
Georgia head coach Kirby Smart and Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley had a joint press conference on Sunday, the final day before the two teams meet in a national semifinal game on Monday.
The national championship contenders have held several practices throughout the week, but they've also participated in many obligatory media availabilities and events put on by the Rose Bowl.
Now, with the game closing in, the teams actually get to have a sense of normalcy.
"We get back into a much more normal routine of a game week, at least for the next 24 hours, because everything has been built in. There's been an event or there's been some kind of activity, where now the activity is the game," Smart said.
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The Bulldogs have not played since Dec. 2, when they beat the Auburn Tigers to win the SEC Championship.
Settling into the first minutes could pose a challenge for either team, especially with the stakes so high.
"It's a momentum game. The college game is such a momentum game," Smart said. "There is so much emotion involved. A lot of the outcomes are dictated by how you handle what happens. Not necessarily what happens, but how you handle what happens."
Riley couldn't be sure whether who settles-in first would be the ones to have the edge.
"Certainly you want to start fast, but you're going to have to be able to hang in there in this game," he said.