mike: we have plenty of her before you out here. they are hoping for 13,000 people. doors open at 7:00. they make it clear, alabama fans are welcome. giveaways, contest, food, lots of fun when the watch party gets underway at the well. mike mccormick, wyff news 4 live in greenville. michael: make it 13,000. from the well, to the desert. brad, is there orange in the desert tonight? brad: it is gameday in glendale . clemson ready to play alabama. the tigers trying to win a national championship for the first time since 1981. it has been 34 years for clemson. all the talk leading up to this point has had a lot to do with tebow's when he and his can -- dabo swinney and his connection to alabama.

he coached there, and he has an opportunity to win a national championship against his alma mater. >> to be here and win this game, it's just another, this is the next step. that's all it is. it is the only thing we have not done. we have a big challenge. you have to slay the dragon monday night. this is easier said than done. everybody knows that. >> i think we will approach the game differently, give people something you haven't seen. you have to make them uncomfortable. if you try to run the power out of alabama, you will lose. brad: the tigers are underdogs in this one. they come in a totohdown underdog to alabama. bubuthere are a lot more clemson fans on hand been alabama fans. we are talking about 75-25 at this point from what we have seen. coming up, a report on mackensie alexander's status and shaq lawson's status. live england ill, brad fralick,

michael: a watch party going on it clemson on campus. gabrielle: ever since the tigers won the orange bowl clemson police say they've been , planning how to keep everyone safe tonight for the championship. city police are working with university police. the city police chief says many more people live in the city of clemson now, compared to when clemson played in the 1981 championship game. and for that game, classes hadn't started up yet. >> naturally, this is the largest gathering of any sporting event in clemson. so we went back in history, and looked at different things that have happened, and compared big games and things like that, and sort of try to anticipate anything beyond that, that could happen, and plan for that. gabrielle: police will be out in full force tonight, and want to remind people to drive safely and patiently. michael: could be a long night.

you can pick up some championship apparel tonight at a few stores. hibbett sports will open at 11:30, and stay open until 1:00. dick's sporting goods and academy sports and outdoors will open after the game, and shut -- yes, in the middle of the night, so customers can shop. if they don't win, they must return the boxes to the vendor. senator tim scott has placed a friendly wager on this game with an alabama lawmaker. scott has bet senator jeff sessions a barbecue meal, and the necktie he'll wear to work is on the line, too. if clemson wins, sessions will have to treat scott and his office to alabama barbecue. bound to be different. he'll also have to wear a clemson necktie at the u.s. capitol for a day. vice versa for senator scott, if the tide wins. gabrielle: we want to know which team you think will win tonight. take our now poll. you can vote on our website or

here's a look at the result so far. let's take a look. 68% say clemson, 32% say alabama. we will see in just a few hours. michael: we want to see your fan pictures. when you upload them to social media, we are the place. upload them to the u-local section of wyff4.com, too. cassandra sent us this collage of the 1981 championship clemson coke bottles. pretty cool. and u-local user tigerfam05 sent us this one. this is farrah, and the caption reads she's a future tiger , cheerleader. here's parker. he's all in for clemson. send us your pictures to the u-local section of wyff4.com, and you may see your tiger fan on the air. gabrielle: in less than an hour, stay tuned for our live "road to the title" special, right here on wyff four at 7:00. our sports team is in arizona, with an hour-long show to get you pumped up for tonight's game. again, "road to the title"

michael: back now sky 4 live , over clemson right now. john cessarich will talk about the weather here and there. gabrielle: here and there. first here. how is it looking? john: it is cold, 33 and gnashing. in clemson, they are getting ready, outside. it is 44 degrees. bundle up. if clemson's ahead, and if they win, it does not matter how cold it is, because you will feel warm inside. satellite. pretty quiet in clemson. let's head out to arizona, where brad is live in phoenix. in particular, glendale, sunny and beautiful, 60 degrees, a cold start to the day but they are warmer in phoenix and it is in clemson. great football weather, cooling from 53 to 46 degrees with mainly clear skies. they are at mountain standard

kickoff will be 6:30 local time. we will get colder with a strong wind. more about that the -- in detail later on. gabrielle: thanks, john. still ahead, a longtime states that -- state senator, laid to

>> you're watching live, local, breaking news. with carol goldsmith, michael cogdill, and the weather with chief meteorologist john cessarich. sports with brad fralick. this is wyff news 4 at 6:00 in high definition. michael: the national championship is upon us. the party is getting started at clemson.

find john lyon, live and local from clemson university. i assure lots of people are excited there on campus. hi, john. john: they are excited down here. preparations are underway for tonight's game on-campus and off-campus. here at the hendrix center, they set up the buffet line and off-campus, they are pulling out all the stops there, too. >> this has been amazing for our club. we are looking to pack the parking lot and the inside of the building. john: they are over-the-top for the clemson tigers, filling up the parking lot with tables, getting ready for the big game crowd tonight. >> we have a big screen tv that will be in front of the deck, taller than the deck. waitresses will be out here. we have to fill up all thehe tablbl, people standing, packing the place for a good win.

these clemson grads staked out their spot at 11:00 this morning. >> my freshman year was 1981 at clemson. it was one of the most exciting times of my life. i never knew that was almostst once-in-a-lifetime thing. i feel like we have another chance or twice in a lifetime. hopefully many more after this. very excited. john: on campus, the henxridrix student center is preparing for 1000 students with big-screen tvs and free food. >> a variety of finger foods and meet all of and different things. -- meatballs and things. we have six different viewing locations in the building. john: this is one of the huge tv screens they have set up for game on. of course, we will have full coverage from down here in

a clemson win. live in clemson, john lyon, wyff news 4. gabrielle: thanks, john. taking a look at other community said goodbye to a lawmaker. a state -- a funeral took place this afternoon for senator billy o'dell. hundreds showed up for the service at the first presbyterian church in greenwood. o'dell died in his sleep last he served senate district 4, which includes abbeville, anderson, and greenwood counties. the 77-year-old leaves behind a wife andndwo children. michael: the henderson county sheriff's office says to new have been welcomed. 210 week old -- 210 week old bloodhound puppies will be trained to track suspects. officers have asked fifth grade students to suggest names for

they are puppies, grgring into their officer-ship. they will announce the names in february. the student who picks the winning names will get to meet the dogs. an upstate woman let a chant that became a rallying cry for president about -- president obama. john: the weather forecast for this saturday, the 5k road race, showers ending just maybe before the 9:00 a.m. start of the race.

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special invitation from the president, for a woman in greenwood county. wyff news 4's myra ruiz explains what she's now doing in washington. myra: it didn't take long for word to spread around greenwood county that one of the county councilmembers, edith childs, has been invited to sit with the first lady during the president's state of the union address. edith childs is among the two dozen people invited to sit with the first lady during the address. according to the white house, childs was chosen because of the way she inspired obama during his first run for president. she's credited with coining the rallying cry that was used throughout his campaign. childs first met obama in june of 2007, when the president was still a senator from illinois. it's considered to be a big honor for her to get this special invite. she will be sitting with other people who have landed in the national spotlight. that includes the plaintiff in the landmark marriage equality

graduate from the army's elite ranger school and one of the men , who prevented a terror attack on a paris-bound train. myra ruiz, wyff news 4, greenwood. michael: south carolina lawmakers head back into session tomorrow, and topping the agenda is fixing the roads. last year, lawmakers seemed close to a solution, but opposition to raising the gas tax and demands for reform at the dot led to an impasse. this year bruce bannister of , greenville believes a road plan will come together. >> the one thing we know is, if you leave the roads like they are, it's going to be a negative effect on the economy. we know we have to do something, and figuring out what that is, is hopefully what we'll do this year. michael: helping matters is a $1 billion surplus in state tax revenues, and lawmakers say that could be used to fix the roads. >> now, your live super doppler 4 hd weather forecast.

clouds will come in from the west from time to time. clear to partly cloudy, no precipitation. another cold day today, and night. what a way to start the week. we started off at 24 this morning, below average. that was at the greenville airport. 47 the high dissector afternoon, five degrees below average high. starting off at 17 degrees this morning at the asheville airport, 10 degrees below average. 38 the high this afternoon, far from the record or -- record high or low. a live shot from laurens, mostly clear, your temperature is 45 degrees. it is cold. 30's in the mountains, 27 in boone, 42 in toccoa, wind through the upstate. temperatures will start cooling down. 46 in walhalla, 47 in pickens, 41 in anderson, abbeville, and

greenville. cold temperatures across the area, but we have little wind. light and variable wind, good news. there will not be wind chills. humidity low, 27% in greenville. 23% in asheville. cold temperatures in the deep south, 46 in columbia, 45 in charleston, 41 in florence and myrtle beach and wilmington, 36 in raleigh. 35 in nashville, 25 in cincinnati. chilly in orlando, 55 degrees. 69 in miami. 35 in cape hatteras. the country feeling more like the middle of january. flurries and snow showers for the dakotas, nebraska, and the midwest. lake effect snows in the great lakes, especially coming off lake erie south of buffalo and heavy snow showers coming off lake ontario between watertown,

snow showers around minneapolis. wow. it's cold. a warming trend, six degrees in minneapolis. six degrees. they were negative six to start the nfl playoff game yesterday in minneapolis with the seahawks against the vikings. i watched the game. wow, was it cold. third coldest nfl playoff game on record in minneapolis yesterday. negative one in minneapolis -- in international falls. this clipper will produce snow in the great lakes in the upper midwest. 7:00 this evening, dry with a few clouds for us. this evening, and overnight, another arctic blast comes in. snow showers possible behind the front and ahead of the front. as the front passes by, the wind will pick up tomorrow. quite strong, maybe snow showers in the northern bounds of north carolina and the closer you get to the tennessee line. maybe a few flurries in asheville. low 29 tonight in the upstate, 22 in the mountains.

and windy. high in the upper 40's. 34 in the morning, warming into the mid 40's. it will feel even colder with the wind. snow flurries possible tomorrow in the mountains, most snow will be west and north of asheville. becoming very windy, strong winds in the afternoon especially late, high 42. 30 at 9:00 a.m., 42 maybe the high around month -- all around nch town -- lunchtime. thursday, sunshine and milder. rain comes in friday afternoon and night into early saturday dry on sunday. now back to you. gabrielle: we'll take a sunshine. michael: it's warmer in the desert. brad, what do you say? brad: it feels fantastic right now. a beautiful day. not a cloud in the sky. chillier in the stadium, but this game should be fafaastic tonight. it could be a battle of heisman finalists. derrick henry on one side,

>> now, wyff news 4 sports. brad: welcome to glendale, arizona. it is game day. the national championship in clemson and alabama. marc dopher and brad fralick here, it is a sea of orange in the parking lot. marc: these people have waited for this for three decades. add in picture-perfect weather,

in the sky as the tiger fans get ready to face off with alabama in the national championship. brad: it will be a battle of heisman candidates. mckenzie alexander from clemson has a hamstring injury. he is a gametime decision. shaq lawson, the defensive end out of central, is expected to play. i've seen reports that say he is close to 90%. we will see. the game may come down to the heisman finalist, deshaun watson and derrick henry. >> the shawn watson, quarterback of clemson. -- deshaun watson, clemson cornerback. >> i have respect for him as a pepeon and a player. he works hard. >> the winner of this year past heisman trophy is derrick henry. >> we are friends.

eluded. -- a little bit. the friendship will last for a long time. we are cool guys. and good friends. brad: they are great players in their own right for their teams. they their teams. i was shocked at media day at how similar they are. both very calm and quiet. that makes them very good at their craft, as we've have seen all season. talking about derrick henry, 2000 yards rushing. deshaun watson, 3500 passing yards and 1000 yards rushing. brad: coming up on our special, it is all -- not all nuts and bolts. >>ray ray, how do you get such

brad: jay guillermo, correspondenen took the microphone at media day. you will see that coming up on our "road to the title" special, our hour-long special at 7:00 dedicated to the game. marc: the thing people can look forward to even more than the clemson corresponded segment is your one-on-one it interview with dabo swinney. it is more about his philosophy of life. it is worth tuning in for. that is live at 7:00. brad: we will see you at 7:00. gabrielle: "road to the title" coming up at 7:00. michael: we will have more coverage and 11:00. we are always on wyff4.com. good luck tigers. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.