Alabama to Play Clemson in College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl
12/3/2017 1:11:00 PM | Football
Crimson Tide and Tigers face off for the third consecutive postseason
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide will face off with the No. 1 Clemson Tigers in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans on Jan. 1, 2018.
"We're extremely pleased for our team, our players, our coaches and all the people who work hard here for us," Alabama head coach Nick Saban said. "I'd like to congratulate the other teams that will have the opportunity to participate in the playoff as well as the teams who were considered and had potential to be selected. We are really pleased and happy to be a part of the College Football Playoff again this year."
The Crimson Tide and Tigers will meet for the 18th time in the history of the series that dates back to 1900. The Crimson Tide owns the series advantage, 13-4. The two most recent matchups came in the 2016 and 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship Games. Alabama rallied to defeat the No. 1 Tigers, 45-40, to capture the Tide's 16th national championship in the 2016 game in Glendale, Ariz. The Tigers returned the favor with a come-from-behind, 35-31, win in the 2017 championship in Tampa, Fla.
"Clemson obviously has a great team," Saban added. "Dabo (Swinney) has done a fantastic job with that program. They've been consistently successful and this will be the third year we've played them in the playoff. I know our guys will be ready to play and will have a tremendous amount of respect for Clemson. We'll have to play our best game of the year to have a chance to be successful against them."
The winner of the matchup between Alabama and Clemson will meet the winner of the contest matching the No. 2 Oklahoma Sooners and the No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs, who will play in the CFP Semifinal Game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., on Jan. 1. The 2018 CFP National Championship Game is scheduled for Monday, January 8, 2018, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Saban is 8-4 in postseason games at Alabama, earning wins over Washington (2016 CFP Semifinal Game at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl), Clemson (2016 CFP National Championship Game), Michigan State (2015 CFP Semifinal Game at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic), Notre Dame (2013 BCS National Championship Game at the Orange Bowl), LSU (2012 BCS National Championship Game at the Sugar Bowl), Michigan State (2011 Capital One Bowl), Texas (2010 BCS National Championship at the Rose Bowl) and Colorado (2007 Independence Bowl). The Tide's four losses came against Clemson (2017 CFP National Championship Game), Ohio State (2015 CFP Semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl), Oklahoma (2014 Allstate Sugar Bowl) and Utah (2009 Allstate Sugar Bowl).
Since its inception in 2014, Alabama is the only team to appear in all four College Football Playoffs and has appeared in the top five of every poll put out by the selection committee over the last four seasons.
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