Not saying it wasn't, but it never occurred to me that ND arrived at the tunnel intersection early to attempt a stare-down moment. Since both teams had to enter the stadium via the same tunnel, I figured there would be coordinators to ensure the teams came through the tunnel at the appropriate time to avoid interfering with each other. When ND was standing there waiting for Bama, I just figured Bama delayed a minute or so in leaving the locker room so they could march out onto the field while ND stands and watches. I saw it as one-upmanship by Bama...
This impression was buttressed by the fact the Bama team seemed dribble out of the locker room, taking a fair amount of time while the ND players stood by to let 'em pass.
Stare-down... Heh. Never thought of it...