"S-E-C! S-E-C!" echoes throughout the Kansas City Chiefs locker room as defensive tackle and Clemson alum Jarvis Jenkins rolls his eyes and laughs.
"Are you asking me if we're [Clemson] going to win?" Jenkins challenged. "We all know what happened last year when we had that boy Deshaun Watson and now we have Kelly Bryant, so I think it's going to be a repeat."
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Outnumbered long snapper James Winchester stealthily places his Oklahoma Sooners sweatshirt in wide receiver and Georgia alum Chris Conley's locker first, then linebacker Ramik Wilson's and finally linebacker Justin Houston's.
"Yeah, you see it [the sweatshirt] ain't in there anymore," Wilson smirked. "He [Winchester] got to represent his school, but we're the SEC so we're going to win."
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To start off the New Year, Clemson will face Alabama in the Sugar Bowl and Georgia will face Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl, which has stirred up a friendly rivalry of alma maters in the Chiefs locker room.
"It works out perfectly that the game is on our off day so we can all be watching," Winchester said.
But the ways of watching vary among the guys—as do the stress levels.
"It's more stressful watching the game than actually playing," linebacker and Alabama alum Reggie Ragland revealed. "I'll either watch the game by myself or with other personnel like [Chiefs Player Development Assistant] BJ Stabler, who also played for Alabama."
"I mean it's 'The Granddaddy of Them All,' so it's exciting but it's a big game," Winchester said about the Rose Bowl.
And for others, it's just being proud of their alma mater for everything they've accomplished.
"At the end of the day, you grow away from the college experience, but it's a good feeling to realize how your alma mater has grown to be one of the top programs and a lot of people can't really say that," Jenkins said.
As the game gets closer, the trash talk only amplifies.
"Reggie [Ragland] knows what it is. Reggie been talking that junk, but we're going to win," Jenkins said.
"It's actually great because they're [Georgia] way better than what we were," Wilson admitted. "They're one of the best Georgia teams to come through there. They rolling right now in all phases. This is their year."
While Winchester mentioned a friendly wager may be in the works of what the losing school has to do, no hands have been shaken.
"It'll probably just be wearing apparel from the winning school, but I had a deal like that for when Oklahoma played Texas earlier this year and I let DJ [Derrick Johnson] off the hook even though Oklahoma won," Winchester laughed.
May January 2nd reveal if hands were shook and wagers upheld for the losing teams.
