The big day is finally here. The bowl game Troy fans have been waiting for for more than a month is finally upon us.

I will say this, I had no idea what to expect before I came down here on Tuesday – and was also not as excited as maybe I should have been.

But since I have been in Mobile, I must say, everything has changed.

It’s finally nice to see a large group of people that actually care about the only non-BCS bowl game that features two conference champions – is it just me or do all these college football shows pass over the GMAC Bowl like a piece of fruit cake?

Regardless of the amount of attention the game is receiving, it is going to be a good game.

You have two of the nation’s top quarterbacks and offenses going up against one another – if anything this is going to be a shoot out of epic proportions, and what football fan doesn’t love that?

Plus you have a Trojan team that is hungry to show the nation its worth, once and for all.

There have been many close calls during the past couple of years but after talking to some of the players and coaches, I think this is the game that Troy finally takes the next step, as far as beating out of conference teams go.

And the best part about it all is that there are a large amount of Troy fans attending the game.

As I was walking through the streets before the Mardi Gras parade began, I ran into Trojan fans, both young and old that are excited about watching their team play for a chance at history.

Think about how far this Troy team has come this season a lone, much less the past couple of years.

There were several people that I talked to earlier this season that were ready to throw this 2009 team under the bus after losses to Bowling Green and Florida – but now this Trojans team finds itself in a January bowl game and importantly in a chance to defeat a nationally ranked team and get 10 wins for the first time since joining Division 1.

And they can do it in their own backyards, so to speak.