It’s a Round III Playoff rematch between two budding rivals. ESPN (live stream)

Preview by Christian D’Andrea

The Alabama Crimson Tide’s inclusion in the College Football Playoff, despite an 11-1 record, raised some eyebrows. Was a team who failed to win its division and counts its best win as a victory over a good-not-great LSU team more deserving of a final four spot than multiple Power 5 conference champions? The Crimson Tide can prove they’re worthy -- and gain an inkling of revenge — by dispatching the No. 1 Clemson Tigers on Monday night. The two teams kick off the second game of the 2018 Playoff at 8:45 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on ESPN (live stream).

The last meeting between these teams ended with the Tigers’ first national championship in 35 years. Deshaun Watson hit Hunter Renfrow with a 2-yard touchdown pass with just one second left on the clock to tie the all-time series between the two in National Championship Games to 1-1. With a win Monday, the Tide can redeem themselves en route to a third straight appearance in college football’s biggest game.

Time, TV channel, and streaming info

• Time: 8:45 p.m. ET
• Location: Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans
• TV: ESPN
• Streaming: WatchESPN
• Odds: Alabama is favored by 3 points

Alabama vs. Clemson news:

• The Clemson defense sucked the life out of Miami to win the ACC title.

Clemson has 231 yards of offense to Miami’s 64.

Clemson’s 5.2 yards per play aren’t huge, but they’re dwarfing Miami’s 2.5.

Clemson’s run 44 plays in 17:40 of possession time, compared to 26 plays in 12:20 of clock time for Miami. The Tigers have controlled the ball and the game.

• Why Alabama deserved its playoff spot: it didn’t lose to Iowa by 31 points.

Alabama had one bad moment on the road against a hated rival. (Injuries contributed, showing that even Alabama can be affected by injury eventually.). Its key component in the out-of-conference schedule was Florida State, a team whose season collapsed when starting QB Deondre Francois was injured by the Alabama defense. The departure of Lane Kiffin was supposed to take something vital out of an Alabama offense; instead, the Crimson Tide are actually up a few tenths of a point per game.

• Bill Connelly weighs in on how Alabama should attack Clemson’s defense.
• The Tigers should be pretty fresh for Monday, seeing as they didn’t have to do much in the final two quarters of that ACC title game blowout.

No injuries. Another Clemson Championship. Game completely secured in the third Q. Backups got plenty of reps. Continued to save some of our offensive creativity for the playoff.

Only negative was giving up three points to Miami (that was such a Mark Richt move...).

• Bama’s final practice before Christmas brought some good news.

The “emerging DL” in the headline is LaBryan Ray, who was working in a black non-contact jersey. Saban said that he had a broken foot that required a pin, essentially the same injury suffered by Dylan Moses and Mack Wilson. The fact that he was able to practice on it 10 days before the game portends very well for his availability, barring any unforeseen setbacks. Oh, and rumors that Saban has the entire front seven practicing in Timberlands at this point have not been confirmed.

Can Jalen Hurts redeem himself?

Alabama took a lead into the final seconds of last year’s National Championship Game despite the play of its freshman quarterback. Hurts was bad in the biggest game of his career last winter, completing just 13 of his 31 passes but adding 63 yards and a touchdown on the ground. He’s grown as a passer this season, cutting back on his interceptions and allowing his running game to do the heavy lifting. Even so, he’ll have to step up and find holes in the Tigers defense if he wants to get revenge on the team that handed him his first collegiate loss.

Alabama vs. Clemson prediction:

Clemson has proved itself time and time again this season, but is still a three-point underdog in the Sugar Bowl. The Tigers swarming defense is enough to match Bama step for step — expect Dabo Swinney’s Tigers to make it two in a row against the Tide.

Be sure to check out all our bowl predictions here.

College football's first bowl game was almost its last