COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Alabama vs. Clemson

Monday, January 7, 2019

8 p.m. ET

Santa Clara, Calif.

Levi’s Stadium (71,000)

ESPN

THE TEAMS: Alabama (14-0, 8-0 SEC) will face ACC Champion Clemson (14-0) in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game. This will mark the third Alabama vs. Clemson national championship game in the last four seasons, and the fourth straight year the two have met in the College Football Playoff. Alabama is looking to win its sixth national championship since 2009, while Clemson is aiming to secure its second in the last three seasons.

NATIONAL RANKINGS:  Alabama is the No. 1-ranked team in the College Football Playoff rankings, while Clemson is ranked No. 2 by the CFP. This is the third time in the five year history of the College Football Playoff the No. 1 and No. 2 teams have advanced to the championship game, both of which featured Alabama versus Clemson. The No. 2-ranked team won the previous two matchups, while the No. 1 team is yet to win the national championship in the College Football Playoff era.

SEC IN THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: This will mark the 12th time in the last 13 seasons, and 14th overall since 1998, a team from the SEC has advanced to the national championship game. Nine times since 2006 the SEC has won the college football national championship. Overall, the SEC has won 11 of the previous 20 national championship games since the 1998 season, while appearing in 13 prior to this season.

TELEVISION: ESPN will televise the game nationally for the ninth straight year (Chris Fowler, Play-by-Play; Kirk Herbstreit, Analyst; Maria Taylor and Tom Rinaldi, Sidelines). ESPN has aired the game nationally since the 2011 BCS National Championship Game when Auburn defeated Oregon. ABC carried the game 1999-2006, and 2010, with Fox Sports owning broadcast rights in 2007-09.

RADIO: ESPN Radio will broadcast the game (ESPN Radio: Sean McDonough, Play-by-Play; Todd Blackledge, Analyst; Holly Rowe and Ian Fitzsimmons, Sidelines). The game is available on SiriusXM Channel 80, with the Alabama broadcast airing on Channel 84. ESPN Radio has carried the game since 1999.

SERIES: Monday's game will be the 19th meeting all-time between the Crimson Tide and Clemson and the fourth in as many seasons – all coming in the College Football Playoff. Alabama holds the all-time advantage, 14-4, including a 2-1 mark in the Playoffs. The two teams last met in the 2018 CFP Semifinal at the Allstate Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1 in New Orleans, La., with UA posting a dominant 24-6 win over the Tigers inside the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

SEC IN THE COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF: The SEC is now 7-3 all-time in College Football Playoff games, playing in four of the five national championship games, while winning two of the previous four. The SEC is 5-1 in CFP Semifinals, and 6-2 overall in CFP games not versus each other. The SEC leads the nation with six teams advancing to the Playoff since its inception in 2014. The league also leads the nation in the CFP era with championship game appearances (5) and championship game victories (2).

Pictured is Alabama senior running back Damien Harris, who was a five-star prospect from Richmond, Ky.