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Alabama Again Favored To Beat Clemson With National Title On The Line
ESPN ^ | 12-29-2018 | David Purdum

Posted on 12/29/2018 9:28:33 PM PST by blam

Alabama and Clemson will meet in the CFP National Championship for the third time in the last four years -- and the Crimson Tide are once again the favorites.

Alabama has been installed as a six-point favorite over Clemson for in the championship game on Jan. 7 (ESPN, 8 p.m. ET) in Santa Clara, California.

Alabama handled Oklahoma and will face Clemson again for the College Football Playoff championship.

College football's top two programs will once again meet to decide the national championship next Monday after No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Clemson both easily dispatched with their semifinal opponents Saturday.

It is the fourth straight season the Crimson Tide and Tigers will meet in the playoff. Alabama beat Clemson 24-6 in a semifinal last season, and the teams split their two meetings in the title game in 2016 and 2017.

Alabama reached the championship game for a fourth straight year with a 45-34 win over Oklahoma on Saturday in the Orange Bowl. Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban will be looking for a record seventh national championship.

Alabama has been favored in its last 53 games and 126 of its past 127. The Crimson Tide were a consensus 1-point underdog at Georgia in 2015.

Barring dramatic line movement, Clemson will be an underdog for only fifth time in the last three seasons.

The Tigers rolled past Notre Dame 30-3 in the Cotton Bowl on Saturday to advance to their third national championship game in the last four years. The Clemson route was costly for the betting public, which sided heavily with the underdog Fighting Irish. Among several large bets on Notre Dame was a $60,000 money-line wager placed Saturday morning at a William Hill sportsbook.

(snip)

(Excerpt) Read more at espn.com ...


TOPICS: Sports
KEYWORDS: alabama; championship; clemson; football
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To: wardaddy

Huh? HOw’s that possible?


41 posted on 12/30/2018 2:18:41 AM PST by nikos1121 (The Patriot is a scarce man. The timid join him only when his cause succeeds, Mark Twain)
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To: Dexter Morgan

Damn. Where was the coach’s analysis? I didn’t see that.


42 posted on 12/30/2018 3:00:05 AM PST by sparklite2 (Don't mind me. I'm just a contrarian.)
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To: CaliforniaCraftBeer

You rang?


43 posted on 12/30/2018 3:00:45 AM PST by sparklite2 (Don't mind me. I'm just a contrarian.)
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To: sparklite2

That was different. Enjoyed the stats but watching the coaches non-stop was unnecessary. Did you see the five second shot of Alabama’s baton squad in the stands? Oh, my. How about replacing the coaches with cheerleaders and batons?


44 posted on 12/30/2018 4:31:54 AM PST by Libloather (Trivial Pursuit question - name the first female to lose TWO presidential elections!)
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To: Libloather

It’s probably just a one-off. I remember back in the early eighties during a Miami game, they wanted to make the TV experience a little more like actually being there, so they eliminated the play-by-play and the commentary. It was just crowd noise and whatever came over the stadium speakers. It was different...


45 posted on 12/30/2018 5:01:43 AM PST by sparklite2 (Don't mind me. I'm just a contrarian.)
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To: blam

Notre Dame once again showed the nation it was a fraud team. Why did Lincoln Riley defer the kickoff?????


46 posted on 12/30/2018 5:26:53 AM PST by C19fan
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To: nikos1121

A lot of Notre Dame fans betting with their heart not their mind.


47 posted on 12/30/2018 5:29:44 AM PST by C19fan
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To: blam

Verizon Fios subscribers might not be able to watch the game as Disney and Verizon are fighting over new cable rights fees. The current contract ends at midnight January 1.


48 posted on 12/30/2018 5:32:30 AM PST by C19fan
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Doesn’t take an expert to like Trevor Lawrence …..

https://heavy.com/sports/2018/12/trevor-lawrence-nfl-draft-projections-stock/

Trevor Lawrence will not be eligible to enter the NFL draft until 2021 at the earliest, but the league is already taking notice of the Clemson quarterback.

Former NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer believes Lawrence is already better than a lot of current NFL quarterbacks.

“The more I’m doing this, the more I think I could throw these guys into an NFL training camp as 18-year-olds,” Dilfer said per Tiger Net. “Now they couldn’t handle the volume of offensive-decision-making (in a game), but from a talent standpoint, both Trevor and Justin (Fields) are better than 15 guys in the NFL right now from a talent standpoint. Maybe more…Trevor couldn’t get enough of it [preparation]. He got it. ‘Yes, this is what I want. I want to know this stuff. Teach me more.’ He was overwhelmed at times, which is what we’re looking for, but he responded great and I think people up there really have a neat look into his competitive temperament.

It’s so much more than height/weight/speed/arm-talent. Any pencil jockey can see him that way. There’s so many deep levels to him that people will see in the show.”

*****

Lawrence Is Being Called the Best Pro Prospect Since Peyton Manning

*****

One ACC assistant coach told Yahoo Sports that Lawrence would be the top pick in the 2019 draft if he was eligible to declare. For now, NFL teams will have to hope he declares for the draft in 2021. Lawrence is drawing comparisons to future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning.

“He’s the best prospect since [Peyton] Manning,” an ACC assistant coach told Yahoo Sports. “He’d be the first pick in this year’s draft if he came out, even if he didn’t play another snap.”

**********************

Personally, I see quiet brilliance in his eyes when he is playing.

When a player like him comes along, my only real wish is for nothing to ever happen to them that would shorten the full exhibition of their extraordinary abilities. They are so rare.

49 posted on 12/30/2018 5:33:50 AM PST by a little elbow grease (Duct tape and cable ties have more worth than pussy hats and resistance.)
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To: bray

Everything made to make college football better has made it worse. At this point, scrap the bowl system entirely and design a playoff system like the NFL.


50 posted on 12/30/2018 5:52:35 AM PST by shanover (...To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them.-S.Adams)
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To: jospehm20
Arkansas is not a chump?

Point noted!

51 posted on 12/30/2018 6:32:39 AM PST by fso301
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To: DOC44
What was ND doing in the final four anyway.

What was Michigan doing in the top 15......

52 posted on 12/30/2018 6:48:11 AM PST by Hot Tabasco
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To: Fiji Hill
no ice hockey after the summer solstice.

And no hockey franchises awarded to states that don't get snow.....Nobody should be allowed to watch hockey in shorts and t-shirts....

53 posted on 12/30/2018 6:50:47 AM PST by Hot Tabasco
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To: blam

Congrats to OK for staying in the game.

I was hoping ND would beat Clemson not because I am afraid of playing Clemson (although I kinda am!), but because I would love to see Alabama score over 100 points in a national championship game.

Notre Dame!!! What an UTTER joke. Having a winning season against mostly big 10 schools is like winning all the blue ribbons in the Special Olympics.

That said, I hope we get by Clemson.

Roll Tide.


54 posted on 12/30/2018 6:52:30 AM PST by mostly_lies
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To: dfwgator
We're Back!

Not if you're considering the cremation of Michigan an actual accomplishment.

55 posted on 12/30/2018 6:55:20 AM PST by Hot Tabasco
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To: mostly_lies
. Having a winning season against mostly big 10 schools is like winning all the blue ribbons in the Special Olympics.

For that comment alone I hope Alabama gets their ass handed to them and you and you.

56 posted on 12/30/2018 6:59:24 AM PST by Kakaze (I want The Republic back !)
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To: mostly_lies

What is all complaining about Notre Dame’s football schedule? They even played The Holy Sisters of the Emmaculate Erection Mission.


57 posted on 12/30/2018 7:38:35 AM PST by DOC44
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To: Hot Tabasco
What was ND doing in the final four anyway.

What was Michigan doing in the top 15......

The Florida Gators and the Clemson Tigers corrected those two mistakes.

58 posted on 12/30/2018 7:59:24 AM PST by politicianslie (OPTIMIST-Glass 1/2 full- PESSIMIST 1/2 empty TO ENGINEER, Glass is twice as big as it needs to be!)
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To: Kakaze

It is an SEC thing...., not an Alabama thing, and yes, the big 10, with ND and Penn State, are a joke in terms of schedule difficulty.

If a lower tier SEC team like Auburn or Miss State were in the big 10, they would dominate that conference the way Bama Georgia or LSU does the SEC.

Not being deliberately nasty, although truth sometimes seems that way.


59 posted on 12/30/2018 11:06:16 AM PST by mostly_lies
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To: blam

That would be their choice. Why don’t they sit put the other late games when they have it all wrapped up.

My choice is to not watch the false promises and fraud. And not support sponsors who do.


60 posted on 12/30/2018 11:21:01 AM PST by morphing libertarian (Use Comey's Report; Indict Hillary now; build Kate's wall. --- Proud Smelly Walmart Deplorable)
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