MACON, Ga. — After pulling off a last-minute win against Ohio State in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl, the Georgia Bulldogs are heading to the National Championship in Inglewood, California, outside Los Angeles.
The Dawgs will fight for the title against the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs in just a week.
Dawg fans are notorious for showing up in numbers to support the team in Red and Black. For some fans, that even means traveling to the other side of the country for the National Championship.
"We got to show up and cheer them on so we can win." said former District Attorney David Cooke.
"It's not just a football game. It's a religion. It's society. It's culture," said Donald Taylor.
Fans are getting ready to pack their bags for the over 2,000-mile trek as they're still shocked, amazed, and celebrating over that win going into the new year.
"Magically. Like it's some force of the universe erupted at midnight, the transition over to 2023 is the most euphoric feeling I've ever felt," Taylor said.
Former District Attorney David Cooke says there was extra anticipation about the outcome of Saturday's game.
His wife's Christmas present to him is a ticket to the National Championship.
"He opens up the Christmas card, and it says if the Dawgs win the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl, you're going to the Championship game," said Rebecca Cooke. "And then the game finished. He sits down on the sofa, and he looks up with tears in his eyes and says, 'I'm going to California.'"
But it'll cost folks a pretty penny to sit in SoFi Stadium come January 9.
Dr. Ryan Schnetzer, a former Georgia football player, turned Macon spine surgeon says this is the most expensive ticket he's bought--at least $850 face value.
"Flights around $800, then the tickets, the hotels 300 to 400 a night, and we got a bus taking us back and forth. So it certainly adds up," Schnetzer said.
"It's the price you pay. Whatever it is, it is. Just pay it and get on with it," Taylor said.
Several people, we spoke to bought tickets weeks in advance.
How much would it cost to go to the Championship--airfare, hotel room, and ticket if you bought it all today? We looked at the least expensive options across the board.
The cheapest we could find for flights was a red-eye flight--$1,458 nonstop, roundtrip with Delta.
As for a hotel close to SoFi stadium, the Holiday Inn about 3 miles away was one of the cheapest as of Monday morning. It was $894 for a two-night stay with taxes and fees.
Of course, we must remember the ticket to the game.
Ticketmaster says prices range in the thousands, even as high as $8,500 for a single ticket.
At 10 a.m. Monday, the cheapest ticket we could find was $600 up in the nosebleeds.
If we add up the least expensive options for airfare, a hotel room, and a ticket--your total would be $2,957 for a single person, not including food, taxi or uber rides, and more.