CFP championship set: It’s Clemson vs. Alabama, Part 4
The trilogy wasn’t enough so now it’s time for round No. 4.
Clemson and Alabama are playing in the College Football Playoff, and for the third time in four years it is for the national championship.
The game will be played on ESPN at 8 p.m. Monday, Jan. 7, 2019, at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.
“It’s like they almost should be a part of our regular schedule,” Clemson senior defensive tackle Christian Wilkins said following the Cotton Bowl win against Notre Dame on Saturday night. “We’re getting used to playing them every year. It’s almost like they’re in our conference or something.”
The Tigers defeated Notre Dame 30-3 in the Cotton Bowl to advance to the title game. Alabama beat Oklahoma 45-34 in the Orange Bowl.
Both teams put together dominant performances, and the games were never really in doubt.
The Tigers jumped out to a 23-3 halftime lead and were never challenged, while Alabama led 28-0 early in the second quarter. Oklahoma never pulled to within closer than 11 points.
“This is what we came here to do,” Tigers coach Dabo Swinney said. “This senior group just won their 54th game and they’re going back to their third national championship in four years. And man, we’re so excited to have the opportunity to go to California and represent the ACC and play another great opponent.”
Clemson and Alabama have met in the playoffs four consecutive seasons. Alabama is 2-1 in those games, with the Tigers winning the 2016-17 national championship over the Tide. Alabama earned a 24-6 victory against Clemson in last year’s Sugar Bowl.
Alabama is an early six-point favorite for the national championship game, which is not a surprise as the Crimson Tide have been ranked No. 1 throughout the 2018 season.
Swinney has proclaimed throughout the year that the Tigers are on the “rest of y’all bus” trying to catch Alabama, and Wilkins agreed with that stance after Saturday’s Cotton Bowl.
“We’re still on the rest of y’all (bus),” he said. “We’re just some raggedy ole Tigers who are trying to earn it each and every day. Just earn the respect of everybody.”
If Wilkins and the rest of the Tigers can earn their second national title in three years by defeating Alabama in the national championship game again, the talk of the rest of y’all bus will be gone.
“Just do what we do and control what we can control. That’s what we’ve been doing all year,” Wilkins said. “Just continue to do what we did all year. Just continue to do the common things in an uncommon way and maybe we’ll command the attention of the world.”
This story was originally published December 30, 2018 at 7:48 PM.