The college football season will come to a close Monday with the national title game.
It’s been another interesting year, but in the end, the two teams left have dominated recruiting battles consistently for the last few years. That’s the name of the game in college football — your team may have a good season, but if you’re not close to the top in recruiting, then count yourself out of the national championship picture.
Michigan State gave hope to those teams that can’t compete in the recruiting game, but it fell way short last week to a dominating Alabama team. It’s more about Jimmy’s and Joe’s in college football than the X’s and O’s, so when betting next year, we’ll remember to give away points more often than we did last year.
Without further ado, here’s our final prediction for the 2015 college football season.
Alabama (-7) vs. Clemson
The Skinny: These two teams cruised through most of the regular season, other than a few bumps along the way. For Alabama, it struggled in the early going and eventually got beaten at home to Mississippi. That seemed to wake up the Crimson Tide and they’ve mostly dominated during the latter part of the season.
Clemson hasn’t been tested often, but when it has, it has come up with the plays necessary to win. The Tigers’ defense has been a strength, even though they lost several starters from a year ago. Much like we said last week against Oklahoma, that talent on defense would show, and it did.
Why Clemson will cover: Much like last week, Clemson loves the underdog role. The Sooners were actually favored against the Tigers and were beaten up in the second half during a dominant defensive performance. Despite the undefeated record, Clemson once again finds itself as the underdog, and that will only help fuel them more against perennial favorites in the Tide. Clemson’s defense has some real players and should be able to force Alabama to throw the ball. If the Tigers can do that, and move the ball with some consistency on offense, this game should be much closer than a touchdown.
Why Alabama will cover: The Crimson Tide is rolling. Have you seen that defensive front lately? That’s a NFL-caliber front and although Clemson has seen good defenses this season (i.e. Notre Dame and Florida State), it hasn’t seen anything like what Alabama will show them. And that passing attack hasn’t been bad lately for the Crimson Tide, which may force Clemson to honor the pass, which would open up running lanes. The Crimson Tide is on a mission this season after being shut out of the national championship game last season. They’re motivated and won’t look past the Tigers.
Prediction: Alabama 31, Clemson 20. This game stays close for about three quarters, but Alabama’s relentless defense stifles the Tigers in the fourth quarter and Alabama tacks on a late score for the cover.
