It had become the matchup of the College Football Playoff era — Alabama vs. Clemson. Ohio State got things rockin’ in the first playoff. Since then, save for last year’s LSU run, the Tigers and Tide have dominated. The teams matched up four times in the playoffs from the 2015 season through 2018. Both have a national title each during that time.
But for the second straight year, that matchup will not take place. Alabama missed the playoff for the first time last year, and the Buckeyes ran Clemson out of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Friday night.
So, just like at the end of the 2014 season, it’ll be Ohio State vs. Alabama, this time in South Florida for all the marbles.
And that’s where everyone’s favorite SEC chest-thumper comes in, Paul Finebaum. The SEC Network and radio personality always has something controversial to say it seems, and he has weighed in on what he believes Alabama head coach Nick Saban feels about facing OSU over the Tigers.
“I will say in a weird quirky sort of way, I think Nick Saban deep down is happy seeing Ohio State across the field than Clemson and it’s only because of the history,” Finebaum said. “We all know Alabama and Clemson’s history, and I think that’s a program down in South Carolina that knows it can beat Alabama. And I don’t think what happened in 2014 has any impact on this game — this is a completely different world we’re living in.”
“But I think Saban would prefer to take his chances against Ryan Day’s team against another matchup against Dabo Swinney, although really these days with Dabo Swinney you kind of invite that challenge because you don’t know how Dabo Swinney’s going to affect the outcome of the game through his mouth.”
Of course, only Saban knows how he feels about this matchup. However, you have to think based on how Ohio State played on New Year’s Day, there are all kinds of different challenges this Buckeye team presents that are going to keep the Alabama head coach up at night.
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