By: JJ Lanier

GeorgiaSportsEdition.com news services

After four months, what has to be close to a thousand games, and countless hours of my life I’ll never get back listening to people complain about who made the college playoffs and how many teams should be included, we end the season right where most thought we would before it even started; Alabama and Clemson, battling it out for the national title. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

I know there’s some fatigue going into tonight’s national championship game since this is the fourth year in a row both teams will have met in the playoffs, with three of those meetings for the national title. But as much as people like to compare it to the Golden State/Cleveland series, and their four straight matchups, this budding rivalry between the two premier programs in college football is much more compelling.

Throughout the season Alabama and Clemson have been the two best teams. There may have been a couple that could make an argument for a week or two, but nobody has consistently been as dominant as either of them.

It’s hard to see where the advantages are, too. Normally each team has a glaring weakness, if not two, the other team tries to exploit.

However, tonight it’s going to come down to scheme and execution. I know that’s not a very insightful analysis, but neither team really has any major deficiencies.

Both teams’ strength is their defense; they both have a strong running game that enables them to control the time of possession, as well as the ability to milk the clock when needed; and both have quarterbacks that more than lives up to the hype and are able to score points in a hurry.

As great a coach as Nick Saban is, it’s not like Dabo Swinney is the college version of Rich Kotite. Both coaches are great with in game adjustments and have obviously proven they aren’t afraid to make a gutsy decision with their season on the line.

As great as the play on the field promises to be, the mental matchup between these two might be even greater.

I think Alabama is the more talented squad, so if they play up to the level, they’re capable of I believe Saban will walk away with his seventh national championship. The Crimson Tide will have to play that well though, because Clemson isn’t too far behind.

The Tigers are deep and skilled at every position, and are not intimidated.

When it comes to titles games, whether it’s college or professional, all you can hope for is a well-played game that has some semblance of tension at the end.

I understand fans may feel like they’re living their own personal version of “Groundhog Day” and would love to see someone else in the title. It’s hard to root for either team when they’ve already gotten an embarrassment of riches. I mean, even during all those Warriors/Cavs series, there wasn’t much question as to who the superior team was.

With all due respect to teams like Georgia, Ohio State, and Oklahoma, these have been the two best teams all year and deserve to be in this game. As exciting as their first two games were this one has the potential to be just as good.

It may be a story we’ve all seen before, but it’s a hell of a good one.

Alabama 30, Clemson 24.