Alabama dynasty rolls into another title game with Clemson
Nick Saban and Alabama are on the verge of rewriting college football history.
The top-ranked Crimson Tide face Clemson on Monday night in a College Football Playoff national championship game rematch.
A victory would give Alabama five national titles in eight seasons, a feat that hasn’t been completed at the highest level of the sport during the poll era.
“I mean, I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, an Alabama native who grew up worshipping Bryant and ended up playing for a national championship Tide team in 1992.
[...] to be able to regroup and create that edge and meet those challenges, continue to manage your staff and your roster and compete at the highest level, I mean, it’s just unbelievable what has happened.
Heisman Trophy runner-up Deshaun Watson said he knew when he decided to come to Clemson in 2012 that he was joining a program poised for big things.
“I felt the energy, I bought into what coach Swinney was saying and what he thought the future was going to bring to this program and I wanted to be a part of it,” said Watson, a junior almost certainly playing his last college game.
A win would be Clemson’s first victory over a team ranked No. 1 and would give the Tigers five victories against ranked opponents this season, the most in school history. ...
Alabama has won 16 straight games against ranked opponents, matching USC’s record streak during the Pete Carroll era (2001-09). ...