Clemson Tigers vs Alabama Crimson Tide
When: 8:00 PM ET, Monday, January 9, 2017
Where: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida

TV: 8:17 p.m. ET, ESPN.
LINE: Alabama -6.5
PREDICTION: Alabama 30, Clemson 28

Oddsmakers currently have the ALABAMA listed as -6.5 point favorites versus the CLEMSON, while the game’s total is sitting at 51.

There just might be an antidote to Alabama’s best-in-the-nation defense. His name is Deshaun Watson.

Clemson’s junior quarterback rolled up 478 yards and directed the Tigers to 40 points in last season’s national championship loss to the Tide. He’s back for more — especially a ring — when No. 1 Alabama (14-0) and No. 2 Clemson (13-1) play Monday in Tampa, Fla., for this season’s title (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).

“Deshaun Watson has played big in every game since he’s been at Clemson,” Tigers coach Dabo Swinney said. “I think he’s played great his whole three years. I mean, great.”

If anybody is going to unravel the Tide, it’s Watson. He’s an athletic dual-threat. He has a big arm and go-deep receivers. That all means big plays. You don’t beat Alabama with methodical 12-play, 75-yard drives. You need “chunk” plays. You need “splash” plays.

Clemson carved up Alabama with 10 plays of 20-plus yards last season. Contrast that to Saturday, when the Tide allowed one such play — a 20-yard pass — in a dominating 24-7 semifinal victory over Washington.

“I thought he played fantastic against us last year,” Alabama coach Nick Saban said of Watson.

“He may be arguably the best player in college football. The guy is very athletic. He’s got a great understanding of their offense. He does a really good job of executing for his team. He can extend plays. He can run. He can run quarterback runs. And he’s a terrific passer. I mean, he is the complete package.”

The knock on Watson — the Heisman runner-up this season and third-place finisher last year — are his 30 interceptions in 29 games in the past two seasons.

While that might be disconcerting for Clemson fans, it’s probably not as distressing as losing your offensive play-caller the week before the season’s biggest game.

That’s the highly unusual position Alabama is in after Saban parted ways with Lane Kiffin on Monday, saying that Kiffin hasn’t been able to successfully juggle two jobs since accepting the coaching position at Florida Atlantic.

Saban elevated offensive analyst Steve Sarkisian to coordinator. Sarkisian has been involved with the planning of the offense this season, but, by NCAA rule, wasn’t able to coach at practice or otherwise instruct the players.

Now, Sarkisian directs freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts and tries to find a play-calling rhythm against a Clemson defense coming off a 31-0 shutout of Ohio State.

Hurts has many of the same qualities as Watson, just in a younger package. In fact, when he enrolled early at Alabama at last year’s winter break, he played the role of Watson on the Tide’s scout team in preparation for the title game, won 45-40 by the Tide.

Hurts was the SEC Offensive Player of the Year, directing an offense that was best when it played up-tempo. Alabama often relied on its ground attack, led by Hurts and running backs Damien Harris and Bo Scarbrough, but it has multiple threats in the passing game, including receivers ArDarius Stewart and Calvin Ridley, and tight end O.J. Howard, the offensive MVP of last season’s championship game.

“I guess you’ve got some nuances that might be a little bit different maybe from a play-call or something like that, but it’s not like they’re going to come out and run the triple option,” Swinney said of Alabama’s change of coordinators.

“They’re going to do what they do. It’s just as simple as that. Why would they change? Nobody has stopped them.”

Alabama, going for its fifth title in eight seasons, leads the country in total defense, scoring defense and rushing defense. Clemson is salty, too, seventh in scoring defense and eighth in total defense.

One mistake by either quarterback could be the difference. Alabama has scored 11 times on defense this season and will be hunting off-target throws by Watson. Clemson, as is its usual strategy under coordinator Brent Venables, will bring defensive pressure and force Hurts to make quick decisions and complete passes in the intermediate and deep zones.

No true freshman quarterback has led his team to the national championship since 1985, when Jamelle Holieway did so for Oklahoma.

Will quarterback experience matter?

Will defenses rule?

Clemson is going for its first national title since 1981, and Swinney said these Tigers have “more juice” than the 2015 squad. Meanwhile, at Alabama, winning never gets old.

“When you play an outstanding opponent, that’s something that in and of itself as a competitor is motivation,” Saban said. “And that’s certainly the case in this game.”

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AUBURN vs ALABAMA
When: 11/26/2016 3:30 PM

TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, CBS. LINE: Alabama -17
PREDICTION: Alabama 30, Auburn 17

Top-ranked Alabama already wrapped up the SEC West and plays East winner Florida for the conference championship Dec. 3, but that doesn’t mean the Crimson Tide is looking past Auburn.

Alabama coach Nick Saban said the Iron Bowl rivalry will define the “legacy of the season” in terms of what the Crimson Tide is trying to accomplish.

“I think this is one of the greatest rivalry games in the country,” Saban said. “I know it means a lot to a lot of people in this state as well as nationally and the competitors in the game probably enjoy this kind of competition, this kind of rivalry as much as any game that they play.”

The Crimson Tide host the No. 16 Tigers at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa on Saturday (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS).

Alabama (11-0, 7-0 SEC) goes into the game with the nation’s No. 1 defense against the run, holding foes to fewer than 69 yards per game rushing, and No. 2 in scoring defense (11.4 points). The defense scored nine touchdowns on five fumble returns and four interception runbacks this season.

Add in three punt returns for touchdowns and the Tide scored 12 non-offensive touchdowns, twice as many as the next two FBS teams on the list (Ohio State and Houston).

Offensively, the Tide averages nearly 478 yards in total offense with freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts passing for 197 per game and rushing for 73. Running backs Damien Harris and Josh Jacobs combined to average more than 121 yards rushing.

Auburn’s defense, however, allowed only 15 touchdowns in 11 games, limited opponents to about 118 rushing yards per game, and allowed an average of 334.5 yards in total offense, which is 18th-best in the country and fifth in the SEC.

The Tigers (8-3, 5-2) can also to put pressure on opposing passers (25 sacks, 82 quarterback hurries) and when they can’t get to the quarterback, they have a knack for batting the ball down at the line of scrimmage. Defensive linemen Montravius Adams, Marlon Davidson, Dontavius Russell, Maurice Swain and Derrick Brown have combined for 10 pass breakups.

“Obviously, we’re working for sacks,” Auburn defensive coordinator Kevin Steele said. “But more importantly, we’re working to affect the quarterback, and one of the ways to affect the quarterback is to get your hands up and bat balls.”

But the Tigers are unsettled on the offensive side of things. Though running back Kamryn Pettway, their leading rusher with 1,108 yards, is expected to play after missing the last two games with a leg injury and starter Kerryon Johnson’s ankle seems to get better each week, the situation at quarterback remains a mystery.

Sophomore Sean White sat out last week’s victory over Alabama A&M with a sore shoulder and senior Jeremy Johnson started. Johnson was effective in only his third game this season, completing 14 of 19 passes for 147 yards in the 55-0 rout.

But that was against an overmatched FCS foe. Need it even be said that Alabama’s defense presents a much bigger challenge?

White, who is 129 of 198 passing for 1,644 yards and nine touchdowns, has been on and off the field in recent games. He didn’t start against Vanderbilt but came in to rally the Tigers from a three-point halftime deficit to a 23-16 victory.

The next week, he started against Georgia but re-injured his shoulder and was largely ineffective as the Tigers lost 13-7. He didn’t play at all last week as Johnson and John Franklin III took over.

Offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee said that Johnson could start again with Franklin as an alternative.

“I thought Jeremy and John both did a good job,” Lashless said of their performance last week. “They’ve been repping for us the last couple of weeks of practice when Sean hasn’t been practicing. We’ll see where Sean is in the process.

“We’ll try to make a call, at least on our end, earlier in the week so we can prepare the way we need to, but I wouldn’t rule any of them out right now.”

Alabama prevailed 29-13 last year and won six of the last eight meetings to take a 44-35-1 series lead.

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Alabama at Notre Dame
When: 8:30 PM ET, Monday, January 7, 2013
Where: Sun Life Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida
TV: 8:30 p.m., ESPN. LINE: Alabama -10
Oddsmakers currently have the Crimson Tide listed as 8½-point favorites versus the Fighting Irish, while the game’s total is sitting at 43.
Prediction: Alabama 16, Notre Dame 13

The Crimson Tide will be happy to match muscle vs. muscle with Notre Dame’s defense behind a powerhouse offensive line that averages 315 pounds per man. Alabama has a pair of 1,000-yard backs in junior Eddie Lacy and freshman T.J. Yeldon, who combined for 27 touchdowns and piled up 334 yards in the SEC title game win over Georgia. Quarterback AJ McCarron threw for 26 touchdowns against only three interceptions and showed he was much more than a caretaker of the offense by leading late drives to beat LSU and Georgia. His top weapon is Amari Cooper, who has 53 receptions and nine touchdowns. Notre Dame’s defense has been getting all the publicity, but the Crimson Tide have their own elite linebacker in C.J. Mosley and held 10 opponents to less than 14 points while recording four shutouts.

Alabama was a 32-28 winner in their most recent outing on the road against Georgia. They failed to cover the 9-point spread as favorites, while the total score (60) made winners of OVER bettors.

Team records:
Alabama: 12-1 SU, 6-7 ATS
Notre Dame: 12-0 SU, 7-5 ATS

Alabama most recently:
When playing in January are 5-2
When playing on grass are 9-1
After outgaining opponent are 10-0
When favored on the road are 9-1

Te’o, the Heisman Trophy runner-up, is the heart and soul of a defense that permitted only nine touchdowns overall and two on the ground. He has seven interceptions and played behind a stellar defensive front featuring ends Stephon Tuitt (12 sacks) and Kapron Lewis-Moore sandwiching the massive Louis Nix III. Notre Dame’s running back corps of Theo Riddick, Cierre Wood and George Atkinson III combined for 2,000 yards and will test a defense that allowed a national-low 246 yards. Still, Notre Dame’s offense revolves around dual-threat quarterback Everett Golson. He threw for 11 touchdowns against five interceptions and had four of of his five-highest passing totals in November. Golson also rushed for 305 yards and five scores and his ability to keep the chains moving against Alabama’s defense will be vital.

Last time out for Notre Dame, they were a 22-13 winner as they battled Southern Cal on the road. Notre Dame covered in the match as a 4.5-point favorite, while 35 combined points moved the game UNDER for totals bettors.

Notre Dame most recently:
When playing in January are 0-6
When playing on grass are 10-0
After outgaining opponent are 10-0
When an underdog at home are 1-9

A few trends to consider:
Alabama is 16-1 SU in its last 17 games
Alabama is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games
Notre Dame is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Notre Dame’s last 11 games

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