The college national championship game will take place on Monday night at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, and there’s an opening kickoff time slated for 8:00 PM ET. It’s a dream matchup between 14-0 Clemson and 14-0 Alabama.

Alabama opened as a 6.0-point favorite. Currently (1/5), the point-spread has since moved to 5.5 according to college football betting odds at 5Dimes. Furthermore, there was an opening total of 59.5 on this contest. The present national championship game odds at BetOnline is now displaying this total at 58.5.

This matchup will mark a 3rd time in 4 years that these teams will play each other in the College Football Playoff Championship Game. Additionally, it will be a 4th consecutive year that these teams will have squared off in the 4-team college football playoffs. Either Clemson or Alabama has been crowned national champion of college football during each of the previous 3 years.

Dominant Football Programs
As I just alluded to, this will be the 4th consecutive year that these teams have made it to the college football 4-team playoff. During that precise time frame, Alabama has gone 55-3 (.948) and that includes 32-26 ATS (55.1%). Moreover, they were a favorite during 57 of those 58 games. However, it’s important to note, Alabama went just 4-2 straight up and 2-4 ATS as a favorite of 6.5-points or fewer over that period. One of those straight up losses came in the national title game against Clemson 2 years ago.

Since the start of the 2015 college football season, Clemson has gone a superb 54-4 (.931) straight up and 35-23 ATS (60.3%). Monday night’s game will be just the 6th time that Clemson has been an underdog through that 4-year stretch, and on 3 of those first 5 occasions their opponent was Alabama. By the way, the Tigers went 4-1 ATS and 3-2 straight up when cast into those roles as an underdog.

Defense Wins Championships
Statistically speaking, both the Clemson and Alabama defenses have been enormously powerful forces this season. Clemson has allowed a mere 12.9 points per game which is tops in the country. Conversely, Alabama is giving up only 16.2 points per contest which ranks 5th nationally.

Despite the numbers indicating these defenses being equally as good, Clemson’s stop unit has clearly been the most consistent of the two, and especially so recently. Clemson held Notre Dame’s offense to just 3 points and 248 yards in the national semifinal, and limited Pittsburgh to 10 points and 200 yards during the ACC Championship game. On the other hand, Alabama has allowed an average of 27.3 points and 402.7 yards per outing through its prior 3 games played

Evenly Matched Offenses
The Clemson and Alabama offenses have been nearly identical in terms of explosiveness throughout the course of this season. Clemson has averaged 530.4 yards and Alabama is at 527.6 yards of total offense per game. The Tigers have scored 44.3 points per contest while the Crimson Tide is at 47.7 points tallied per game.

Both teams possess potent running games and powerful offensive lines. Barring injuries, both teams starting quarterbacks Trevor Lawrence of Clemson and Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa will be collecting a paycheck in the NFL sooner rather than later.

College Football Betting Angle
Clemson has outgained their opponents on the ground this season by a decisive average of 164 yards per game. Since 2014, any college football underdog that’s playing on a neutral field (Clemson), and they’re rushing for 100 yards or more per game than their opponents for the season, resulted in those underdogs going an extremely profitable 35-10 ATS (77.8%). The average point-spread during those 45 games was 6.1.

Final Analysis and Pick
I see both offenses having moderate success moving the ball on Monday. Nonetheless, I think Clemson’s defense will get enough stops at crucial points in this game to be the deciding difference. I wouldn’t be shocked to see Clemson get the outright upset, but I won’t get greedy and will gladly take the points for one of my college football national championship game picks.
Pick: Clemson +5.5