Tag: Clemson vs. Alabama

ESPN analyst sees Clemson vs. Alabama in College Football Playoff

ESPN analyst Pete Bonagura sees a Clemson vs. Alabama first-round College Football Playoff matchup in Tuscaloosa.

With three days remaining until the 2024 season kicks off, it’s a popular time of year for various analysts to make bowl game and 12-team College Football Playoff predictions for the year ahead.

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach and Kyle Bonagura are the latest to unveil their projections ($) for the upcoming playoff and bowl season.

For his part, Bonagura sees Clemson grabbing an at-large bid and taking on Alabama in the first round of the playoff in a No. 11 vs. No. 6 seed matchup at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa. First-round playoff games will be held on-campus beginning this year.

Bonagura has Alabama beating Clemson to advance to the Fiesta Bowl to face Big 12 champion Utah in the quarterfinals. Arizona was his dark horse team to reach the playoff as the No. 10 seed.

Per Bonagura:

“In the transfer portal era, preseason projections in college football are becoming even more of a crapshoot than they already were. These will be comical to look back at in December. There shouldn’t be any major surprises here, it’s mostly the usual suspects. Arizona is the team that, by reputation, doesn’t belong, but the Wildcats have most of their key pieces coming back from a team that finished on a seven-game winning streak and was No. 11 in the final AP poll. This wasn’t by design, but my first-round projections have a regional feel to them, which would be a nice way to usher in the expanded playoff.”

Clemson and Alabama met four times in the four-team CFP with the Tigers winning two national championships against the Crimson Tide. Dabo Swinney, who played for Alabama from 1989-1992, has never coached against his alma mater in Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Schlabach was less optimistic about the Tigers’ ceiling in 2024 and projected Clemson to meet Oklahoma State in the Pop-Tarts Bowl in Orlando (Dec. 28, 3:30 p.m. ET). Both Schlabach and Bonagura project Georgia to face Ohio State in the CFP National Championship, Jan. 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

RELATED: From ‘most overrated team’ to ACC champion, college football analysts divided on Clemson

The first round of the 12-team College Football Playoff is scheduled for Dec. 20-21. ABC/ESPN and TNT Sports will televise first-round games with quarterfinals and semifinal games moving to ESPN.

Clemson opens the 2024 season against Georgia on Aug. 31 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Kickoff is set for noon ET. The game will be televised nationally on ABC.

RELATED: TV broadcast crew announced for Clemson vs. Georgia

Follow us @Clemson_Wire on X and on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Clemson Tigers news, notes and commentary.

‘The greatest to ever do it,’ Dabo Swinney says he’s happy not to face Nick Saban again

Dabo Swinney joked that he was happy not to go up against Nick Saban when asked about the recently retired coach this week.

While Dabo Swinney and former Alabama coach Nick Saban are friends, the Clemson coach won’t miss squaring off against Saban on the gridiron.

Saban and Swinney’s respective programs set the stage for the most consistent matchup in the four-team College Football Playoff era.

Clemson and Alabama met four consecutive years between 2015-18. The Tide and Tigers split the four meetings with Alabama edging Clemson, 45-40, in the College Football Playoff National Championship in Glendale, Ariz., in January 2016.

A year later, Clemson pulled off a 35-31 upset in Tampa. Hunter Renfrow caught a 2-yard touchdown pass from Deshaun Watson with 1 second left to give the Tigers their first national championship since 1981.

In a No. 1 vs. No. 4 seed showdown in the Sugar Bowl on New Year’s Day 2018, Alabama shut down Kelly Bryant and the Tigers’ offense in a dominant 24-6 victory in New Orleans. The Tide went on to beat Georgia in the national championship game on Tua Tagovailoa’s walk-off touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith in overtime.

Sure enough, the Tide and Tigers would meet again in January 2019. Both were 14-0 entering the game. Only in that game, Swinney’s team gave ‘Bama a stunning 44-16 beatdown in Santa Clara, Calif.

As it turned out, that game would mark the final time Clemson faced Alabama with Saban as coach. Saban retired in January and is now an analyst with ESPN. Swinney said back in the spring that he’d called Saban after his retirement and that the two had enjoyed a private conversation.

Near the end of his annual summer media gathering with reporters on Tuesday, Swinney light-heartedly expressed relief that he wouldn’t have to go up against Saban again.

“It’s good to know that he’s not gonna get a rematch from that last one,” Swinney joked in response to a question from 247Sports’ Austin Hannon. “He’s gonna have to live with that one. Because chances are, if he did, he’d probably get some get-back. I can ride off into the sunset with that. We’ll just have to end it right there.”

Swinney called Saban “the greatest to ever do it” and said that he thinks Saban’s new role as an analyst on College GameDay will be great for the sport.

“He’s going to be great for college football. He’s been great for college football. He’s going to continue to be great for college football.” Swinney said. “He’ll continue to be great for Alabama. He certainly has spent his longest professional tenure there and has created deep roots in Tuscaloosa, and he has served that community. It’ll be fun to see him in a different role — he’ll bring a lot of expertise and a lot of insight that only he can bring in that setting that he’s a part of.”

Saban should have no shortage of insight to share about the Tigers — win or lose — when they open the 2024 season against Georgia at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium August 31.

Clemson vs. Nick Saban led Alabama is the all-time College Football Playoff rivalry

With Nick Saban retiring, we reflect on the Clemson vs. Alabama College Football Playoff rivalry.

For a period of the College Football Playoff era, the question was, Clemson or Alabama?

There is no denying that in the early stages of the CFP era, the best-developed rivalry was the one between Dabo Swinney’s Clemson Tigers and Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide. The two programs had some of the best battles you’ll see, and their history is intertwined together through these classic matchups.

Things look a lot different for both programs nowadays, with reports released that Saban will be retiring from football after what could be the best coaching career in college football history. It came as a shock to many, but Saban’s time as a coach has come to an end.

With Saban stepping away, we wanted to reflect on what is the best College Football Playoff rivalry of all time, Clemson vs. Alabama.

– Updated 6/18

Where Clemson ranks among best programs of four-team College Football Playoff era

In a new set of rankings for the best college football programs of the four-team Playoff era, Clemson edged out Ohio State and Georgia for No. 2 overall behind Alabama.

The Clemson Tigers were absent from the four-team College Football Playoff during its final three years.

But the Tigers’ two national championships and six straight Playoff appearances were enough to make Clemson the second-best program in the history of the old format in a new ranking of the 12 best programs of the four-team model by Sporting News.

At the top of those rankings, of course, is Alabama. That’s impossible to argue. Nick Saban led the Crimson Tide to three national championships in the four-team era against fellow national powers Clemson, Georgia, and Ohio State.

Alabama also made three other appearances in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, and the only teams that denied them of even more championship hardware were Georgia and “Little Ol’ Clemson.”

Dabo Swinney’s Tigers snuck past ‘Bama, 35-31, with one second left in the 2016 title game at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium. Two years later, Clemson and Trevor Lawrence blew the Tide out of the water, 44-16, in a championship game rematch at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. That four-touchdown romp allowed Clemson to become the first 15-0 national champion in Division I college football history.

That’s why the Tigers placed No. 2 in Sporting News’ rankings, which uses a formula that awards points to teams based on a combined criteria that include national championships, championship game appearances, semifinal appearances, New Year’s Six appearances and NFL Draft selections, among others.

Clemson edged out both Ohio State and Georgia, a two-time, back-to-back national champion in 2021-22, for the second spot. The Tigers had 56 players selected in the NFL Draft during the four-team playoff era between 2015-2024. They appeared in four national championship games and made a combined seven appearances between the CFP and New Year’s Six.

Per Sporting News:

“Ohio State and Georgia have a strong argument here, but the Tigers were a two-time national champion like the Bulldogs and have four CFP championship game appearances. Maybe some of that was built on the ACC schedule. Clemson produced 55 NFL Draft picks in this stretch and nine consensus All-Americans. Still not convinced? The Bulldogs were not the powerhouse they are now at the beginning of the CFP era, and Clemson was 2-1 against Ohio State in CFP semifinals. This might change in the 12-team CFP era,  but Dabo Swinney did his part to keep the Tigers elite over the last 10 seasons. Clemson is 30-10 the last three years – and the new format will make them a playoff regular again.”

In an ironic twist, Clemson has Alabama to thank in large part for the Tigers’ spot in these rankings; the Crimson Tide defeated Georgia in the SEC Championship Game last year to end the Bulldogs’ chance at the first-ever three-peat in the modern history of college football.

Clemson will meet Georgia to open the 2024 season at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday, August 31. Kickoff times have yet to be announced for the 2024 season, but the Tigers-Bulldogs tilt will be one of the most anticipated mathups of Week 1.

Clemson lands former Alabama starter in transfer portal

Clemson Women’s Basketball: Loyal McQueen, a former Alabama Crimson Tide starter, has landed with the Clemson Tigers via the transfer portal.

The Clemson women’s basketball team has landed a big commitment via the transfer portal.

The Tigers announced the signing of former Alabama starting point guard and South Carolina native Loyal McQueen in an official social media post to X, formerly known as Twitter, Wednesday.

A native of Florence, S.C., McQueen chose Alabama over coach Dawn Staley and South Carolina in 2022. McQueen spent two seasons in Tuscaloosa, where she was the Crimson Tide’s starting point guard in all 34 games in 2023-24, averaging 9.8 points per game in almost 31 minutes a night.

McQueen was part of an Alabama team that won 24 games and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament before losing to Texas. A graduate transfer student, McQueen set career highs last season for games played, points scored (332), rebounds (99), assists (105) and steals (25).

In all, McQueen played in 65 games in two seasons for Alabama. The former standout at Wilson High School was the 2020 South Carolina Gatorade Player of the Year.

Tigers coach Shawn Poppie shared his thoughts on Poppie returning to her home state to play for Clemson.

“I couldn’t be more excited to welcome Loyal and her family back home. I’ve known Loyal for quite some time as I recruited her at an early age while I was at Virginia Tech. She’s one of those I’ve always watched and been a fan of from afar due to how strong our relationship was during the initial recruiting process. As Loyal and I reconnected in this process, our relationship together grew even tighter. I believe she is a perfect fit here at the perfect time. She has had a phenomenal college career up to this point, but I truly believe she has so much more to accomplish. I’m thrilled to add her experience and playmaking ability to our backcourt. With that said, I’m confident the Clemson family and the state of South Carolina will be proud of how Loyal will represent our program on and off the court as we welcome her back HOME.”

McQueen becomes the second addition Poppie has made via the transfer portal this week. On Tuesday, the Tigers announced the commitment of sophomore transfer Hannah Kohn, who became a standout shooter at Chattanooga last season. Kohn reunites with Poppie, the former Mocs coach, at Clemson.

Clemson’s dream run ends in the Elite 8 with loss to Alabama

Clemson’s underdog story ends in the Elite 8 with a loss to Alabama.

Brad Brownell and the Clemson men’s basketball team’s dream run in the 2024 NCAA Tournament has come to an end in the Elite 8 as the Tigers fell to Alabama 89-82.

The Tigers hung in with the Crimson Tide for most of the game, but self-inflicted wounds and hot second-half shooting from Alabama led to Clemson’s downfall. The Tigers are a top-ten team nationally in free throws, but they struggled mightily against the Crimson Tide. Hitting 8 of 16 free throws, Clemson came up short at the free-throw line when they needed it the most.

On the other side, Alabama was scorching hot from the three point line. The Crimson tide hit 16-36 threes, a clean 44.4%. Most of that came from Mark Sears who nailed 7-14 behind the arc.

Clemson’s run was an excellent one, with the Tigers winning four three games as underdogs. They worked hard and fought till the end, but couldn’t overcome Bama’s red-hot offense. The Tigers fall short of the Final Four but have arguably the best season in program history.

March Madness: Where to watch, stream and listen to Clemson vs. Alabama

Clemson Basketball in March Madness: Here’s where Clemson Tigers fans can watch, stream and listen to Saturday’s Elite Eight contest vs. the Alabama Crimson Tide in the NCAA Tournament in Los Angeles.

Alabama coach Nate Oats dubbed it “the basketball Rose Bowl.”

No word yet on whether Nick Saban and Dabo Swinney will be there to witness it.

Nevertheless, it’s on to the Elite Eight for No. 6 seed Clemson, which will take on No. 4 seed Alabama in the West Region final of the NCAA Tournament Saturday at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

It will be the second time the Crimson Tide and Tigers have met this season. Clemson defeated Alabama, 85-77, back on November 28 in Tuscaloosa as part of the ACC-SEC Challenge.

With a trip to the Final Four on the line, it’s hard to bet against the Tigers in a rematch.

They survived No. 3 seed Baylor before knocking out No. 2 seed Arizona, 77-72, in Thursday’s Sweet 16 contest. Chase Hunter has been phenomenal throughout the tournament, and he scored another 18 points in the win against Arizona.

Clemson’s defense has held opponents to less than 40 percent shooting in its first three games of the tournament.

Alabama got to the Elite 8 by taking down No. 1 seed North Carolina, 89-87, in a thrilling comeback on Thursday. Grant Nelson scored 24 points to keep the Tide rolling in the Dance after a late-season slump in SEC play threatened to derail Alabama’s season.

The Crimson Tide is the led by senior Mark Sears, who averages 21.4 points per night. Sears totaled 18 points against North Carolina on 7-of-14 shots. ‘Bama’s biggest strength — and subsequently its achilles heel — is its 3-point shooting. When the Tide gets rolling, they have any number of deadly assassins from behind the arc, including Sears and Rylan Griffen (11.2 points per game).

Neither Clemson nor Alabama have ever reached the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament.

Series Notes and History

Clemson leads the all time head to head series, 8-4. The two schools first met in basketball in 1929. The Tigers have won the last three meetings in the series, including its November win in Tuscaloosa. In that game, Hall had 21 points, eight rebounds and four blocks. Hunter and Joe Girard combined for 31 points. Saturday’s game will mark the fifth meeting between the Tigers and Crimson Tide since 2015.

Where To Watch

Here’s where Clemson fans can watch, stream and listen to Saturday’s NCAA Tournament game against Alabama.

Date: Saturday, March 30

Time: 8:49 p.m. EST

Where: Crypto.com Arena (formerly Staples Center)

TV: TBS/truTV

Live Stream: B/R Sports add-on via Max app

Radio: Clemson Athletic Network | Westwood One Sports (national broadcast) | TuneIn App | Varsity App | SiriusXM (Channel 202)

Broadcast Teams

TBS: Brian Anderson (play-by-play), Jim Jackson (analyst), Allie LaForce (sideline)

Clemson Radio: Don Munson, JD Powell

Westwood One Sports: Spero Dedes, Austin Croshere

Nate Oats says Clemson-Alabama is “the basketball Rose Bowl”

March Madness: Instead of the Alabama Crimson Tide and Clemson Tigers meeting on the gridiron to decide postseason glory, they’ll meet on the basketball court in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament Saturday.

It’s Clemson vs. Alabama again.

Fans of college sports are accustomed to seeing the Tigers and Crimson Tide square off against one another under the bright lights in the postseason.

There’s just one thing different this time around.

Instead of Alabama and Clemson meeting on the gridiron to decide postseason glory, they’ll meet on the basketball court at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena (formerly Staples Center) in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament Saturday.

Alabama coach Nate Oats called it “the basketball Rose Bowl” Friday.

Neither Clemson nor Alabama have ever reached the Final Four, and both Oats and Tigers coach Brad Brownell want to be the first to add their names to their schools’ respective history books.

It doesn’t escape either Oats or Brownell that both men are coaching at schools that are most associated with success on the football field. Alabama and Clemson met four consecutive years in the four-team College Football Playoff between 2015-2018, three of which occurred in the national championship game.

In basketball, the schools met in this season’s ACC-SEC Challenge back on November 28 in Tuscaloosa, an 85-77 Tigers victory.

“We’ve won a lot, but we’ve never been to a Final Four,” Oats noted. “So making a Final Four would be very big for the program, would show that we’re competing with all of the best programs in the country for the biggest thing. You’re trying to win a national championship. Final Four is that step right before winning a national championship, and we haven’t been to a Final Four yet.”

Before Thursday’s 89-87 victory over No. 1 seed North Carolina, Alabama hadn’t reached the Elite Eight since 2004.

Clemson’s last trip to the Elite Eight was even further back — in 1980. Some 44 years later, the Tigers are back after beating No. 2 seed Arizona 77-72 on Thursday.

Brownell was asked the same question about his program relative to the university’s success on the gridiron. Brownell was quick to say that Clemson would always be known as a football school.

“The first thing you better realize, and I’m sure Nate feels the same way, if you’re the head basketball coach at Clemson or Alabama, you’re not going to become a basketball school. You’re going to be a football school,” Brownell told reporters Friday. “You better embrace that early on. That’s OK with me. I’m great with that. I have a great relationship with Coach Swinney. I want us to be great at everything, and we’re really good at a lot of sports at Clemson.”

Brownell noted that Clemson men’s soccer has won two of the past three national championships in that sport. The school also features a baseball team that entered this weekend 22-2 overall and ranked No. 2 in the country. Tigers softball is ranked in the Top 25, as well.

“We’ve got a great group of coaches in our athletic department,” Brownell said. “Certainly we’re known as a football school and will be one forever and we’re all really proud of that. But I’m just doing the best I can to make our program as good as it can be, and I’m proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish the last 14 years. Certainly this year has been really special.”

Tipoff for Saturday’s Clemson-Alabama game is scheduled for 8:49 p.m. EDT. The game will be broadcast on TBS and truTV.

Brad Brownell on Clemson being built for moments like their Sweet 16 win over Arizona

Brad Brownell continually told his team that they are built for this.

Brad Brownell and the Clemson men’s basketball team are making a statement in the 2024 NCAA Tournament as the Tigers have defied odds with three straight underdog wins landing them in the Elite 8. 

Their latest win came in the Sweet 16 as No. 6 Clemson stunned No. 2 Arizona 77-72 in the NCAA’s West Regional on Thursday at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The Tigers caught fire at the right time, leading to a deep run in March Madness that has yet to show signs of slowing down. 

After the win, Brownell discussed how this Clemson team is built for moments like these. The team’s experience and their time in the ACC have allowed them to be prepared for the big moment. 

“We talked about it at halftime – guys, they’re going to make another run or two. We used the phrase, ‘We’re built for this.’ We can handle this,” said Brownell. “We have confidence in our team. We’ve won some big-time road games this year, we’ve played a very challenging schedule.”

“Again, my point that the ACC is much better than everybody maybe assumes is bearing fruit again, and I just think the league prepares us for these kinds of games,” Brownell said. “I’ve got an older team. These guys have seen a lot, done a lot, and experienced success. So, I’m just really happy that they were able to withstand it, and we executed some things really well down the stretch.”

The Tigers have been underdogs game after game in the tournament, with their matchup against Alabama in the Elite 8 being no different. Even so, Clemson has thrived as the underdog of late and for most of this season. 

Social media reacts to Nick Saban joining ESPN College GameDay

Twitter/X reaction to the news of Nick Saban joining ESPN’s College GameDay.

Almost no one suspected that Nick Saban would fade completely away from the college football world after the 72-year-old Saban announced his retirement from coaching on January 10.

Less than a month later, Saban has officially found his next landing spot — in an analyst’s seat on ESPN’s College GameDay.

“Saban… will join a team that includes host Rece Davis, analysts Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit, Desmond Howard and Pat McAfee, as well as college football insider Pete Thamel, reporters Jen Lada and Jess Sims, and college football betting analyst ‘Stanford Steve’ Coughlin,” ESPN announced in a press release Wednesday.

Saban will also appear on ESPN’s NFL Draft coverage and make various appearances across other ESPN platforms, including the SEC Network.

Saban led Alabama to six national championships in his 17 years in Tuscaloosa. He also led LSU to a national championship in 2003.

Here’s how Twitter/X users reacted to the news of Saban joining College GameDay.