I don’t know why Alabama would want to schedule Clemson as an opener. They play each other every year anyway!
It sure seems that way now.
These schedules are made years in advance.
In 2017, Bama opened with #3 FSU. Both teams suffered a lot of injuries in a brutal game. FSU didn’t have a great season and a lot of that was because they lost so many of there starters for the season in that game. Later that season, some opponent fans were saying Alabama had an easy schedule because FSU wasn’t highly ranked. They weren’t highly ranked because of what Alabama did to them.
I’ll add that Alabama lost some of its best players for the season because of that FSU opener. It was a brutal game.
When Alabama scheduled FSU a few seasons in advance, it was considered a top program. You try to schedule good competition but it doesn’t always work out that way.
Fully agree, there is little incentive for Bama and Clemson to play each other in the regular season and they seem destined to play at the CFP.