The College Football Playoff National Championship is set: No. 1 Clemson will play No. 2 Alabama for the title.
Alabama vs. Clemson officially the 2015 College Football Playoff Championship matchup
The top two seeds face in Arizona, with Clemson’s head coach against his alma mater and tons of talent all over the field.
Clemson booked its ticket to the Championship by dominating No. 4 Oklahoma en route to a 37-17 win in the Orange Bowl. The Sooners were leading a tight game 17-16 at halftime, but the Tigers scored 21 straight to give themselves a comfortable win. Wayne Gallman and Deshaun Watson ran for 150 and 145 yards respectively, and the Clemson defense took advantage of Oklahoma’s mistakes to keep the Sooners scoreless in the second half.
The Tigers will face the Tide, who slugged evenly with No. 3 Michigan State for a quarter before snowballing a lead, pushing to 10-0 at the half and 31-0 at the end of the third. The final was 38-0, which is about as bad as the last time head coach Nick Saban faced former assistant Mark Dantonio in a bowl (49-7 in the 2011 Capital One).
A Bama win would be the program’s 16th claimed title and its fourth under Saban, while Dabo Swinney’s hoping to give the Tigers their second championship ever and first since 1981. (Swinney’s an Alabama alumnus, by the way.)
The Tide will be favored in the game -- coming into Saturday, the numbers thought of Bama as about as big a favorite as the rest of the field combined -- with one early book putting the line at Bama by a touchdown.
The two teams will meet at University of Phoenix Satdium in Glendale (Ariz.) on Monday, Jan. 11 for the College Football Playoff Championship. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
As you may remember, Ohio State beat Oregon last year 42-20 to capture the inaugural Playoff title.
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SB Nation presents: How Clemson can beat Alabama
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