Mad about Bama-Clemson dominance? You have 3 options

Your three potential solutions, other than just giving up on sports or doing some sort of boycott or whatever:

“Over the last four seasons, Alabama and Clemson are 106-4 in games that aren’t against Alabama or Clemson,” Bill Connelly wrote.

Four teams did their part in keeping Alabama and Clemson out of title games, but never got help from the 106 others.

The simplest way for any team to miss the Playoff is to lose two games and/or not win a Power 5 conference. True, a non-champ Bama got a (2016 Ohio State-style) lucky bid to 2017’s Playoff field, thanks to circumstances (and then won the whole thing anyway). This means anyone suffering Alabama-Clemson fatigue can also blame 2017 Ohio State, which would’ve taken Bama’s spot if not for losing big to both Iowa and Oklahoma.

In 2018, only Texas A&M, Syracuse, and Georgia came close. Also, The Citadel gave Bama half a tie.

“Beat them” won’t get much easier, I’m sorry to say. Clemson’s perpetually improving roster will have two more years of Trevor Lawrence at QB, while Bama might be bringing in Nick Saban’s best recruiting class ever. So you should try really hard, have your coaches read some really good books or something, cheat smartly, or come up with some other innovation, idk.

If you don’t like the fact that the same two teams keep playing for the FBS national title, keep in mind that you have another option in Division I. That level has a full, 24-team playoff with automatic bids available to every conference, meaning a fair path to Frisco for every team.

Even Michigan would have a chance, especially since Appalachian State left.

Just look at how much more variety a title game can have, once you let way more than four teams into the tournament:

The Pac-12 could reach the Division II title game sometimes, I bet.

We can become happier about life by celebrating and appreciating the country’s two best (by far) groups of players and coaches locking horns with everything on the line, whether we liked their previous editions (or how many of them there were) or not.

This would mean enjoying undeniably the two best of America’s 1,000 or so college football teams playing what should be a tightly contested championship, with the winner becoming yet another option in the Best Team Ever argument. The first 14-0 vs. 14-0 game in major football history! 2006 Rose Bowl-type stakes! It’s ok to admit this fucking rules.

The first Bama-Clemson title game was awesome.

The second Bama-Clemson title game was awesome.

Their semifinal meeting in 2017 wasn’t. I’ll happily take 66 percent probability of an awesome game, thank you.

Set aside old notions of what Alabama looks like. This is not a team based around forcing punts and having Greg McElroy try not to fumble. Tua Tagovailoa leads football’s most thrilling offense outside of the team Alabama just beat and a few NFL teams.

Don’t rule out Clemson’s chances of winning. Vegas has it under a touchdown and falling, by far the most confident anyone has been all season in the Tide facing a real challenge. Over the last past three months, Clemson has quite arguably been as good as Bama.

(Do worry about whether the bizarre decision to put the game in Santa Clara will sully things, but not too much. We’re focusing on the field, not stuff around it like stadium locations and whether Ohio State should’ve competed against Purdue.)

Quinnen Williams vs. one of the country’s best run games. An NFL defensive line (even minus Dexter Lawrence) vs. the hero of last year’s title game. The first 15-0 FBS champ since the 1800s. Nick Saban vs. Bear Bryant. The obvious No. 1 team vs. the obvious No. 2 team. The most fitting final matchup possible for the 2018 season. LET’S GET IT.