Alabama positioned to become 3rd wire-to-wire AP No. 1

The victor of the Peach Bowl will play the victor of the Fiesta Bowl in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game on January 9.

It’s No. 2 Clemson and No. 3 Ohio State in the other national semifinal, to be played at the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona.

Heading into Saturday’s SEC Championship Game, the Alabama Crimson Tide had not given up a touchdown since October 22 against Texas A&M.

The four teams that will play for this year’s College Football Playoff National Championship Trophy were announced on Sunday afternoon.

Alabama by the way opening up as a 17 point favorite in that game against Washington will take place in Atlanta the afternoon of the 31st.

Clemson, which fell to Alabama 45-40 in last season’s title game in Glendale, is headed back to University of Phoenix Stadium.

No NCAA team has won 15 games in a season.

The College Football Playoff pairings are set. Coach Saban and his Crimson Tide once again playoff bound, looking for a 5th national championship under Nick Saban. The Gators prevailed in the race for the SEC East title in both 2015 and 2016, which earned it back-to-back SEC Championship Game appearances. “Maybe they’ll scrimmage us to get us ready for (Alabama)”.

Out of the 123 ranking systems surveyed by Ken Massey, which includes the AP, Coaches and College Football Rankings, just seven don’t have Alabama rated as the No. 1 team in the country.

“I would say most freshmen playing against Southern Cal, first time you’ve ever been in a college game, if that happened the first play, it would have some impact and effect on the next play and the next play and the next play, and it didn’t”, Saban said Friday. The Buckeyes, a nonconference champion, have wins against three Top 10 teams and went on the road to beat Oklahoma.

Washington’s last national title came in 1991, when the Huskies were No. 1 in the final coaches’ poll.

“Had Washington had a stronger strength of schedule I don’t think the conversation would have been as hard”, CFP chair Kirby Hocutt said during an ESPN interview. “I think that was the turning point of the game, psychologically, for our team and for their team”.

I’m not pushing the panic button yet, as we sit here in year two, yet to play in a bowl. But every year, you know Alabama’s going to be right there. “We’ve got nothing but respect for those guys”. Browning is the nation’s fifth-rated passer, and his 42 touchdowns are one shy of Jared Goff’s Pac-12 record. But the Tide hasn’t faced a Top 25 scoring offense since Week 2 against Western Kentucky, which ranks second.

The Trojans (9-3) got blasted by Alabama in the first game of the season and were sitting at 1-3 after a loss to Utah.

Saban downplayed any benefit of having been through the playoff preparations and atmosphere twice before.

Alabama redshirt junior Cooper Bateman, the primary backup to starting quarterback Jalen Hurts, is transferring, according to AL.com. The bulk of the carries went to bruising sophomore Bo Scarbrough, who had two short touchdown runs and finished with 91 yards on 11 carries.

The best bowls are often the ones between teams that take very different approaches to offense.

Florida head coach Jim McElwain, assistant head coach Randy Shannon and offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier are on the recruiting trail in South Florida.

2008 season opener: The 34-10 victory over No. 9 Clemson is considered the “breakout” game in the Nick Saban era.