College Football National Championship: Predictions & How To Watch

Will Alabama claim the crown of best dynasty ever in college football, or will Clempson avoid Clemsoning and pull off the upset in the 2017 National Championship football game?

Tonight’s game kicks off at 7:00 p.m. central time and will be “MegaCast” on all ESPN platforms....meaning that except for ABC, you’ll be seeing football in one form or another on every ESPN channel. What will you see on each channel?

ESPN: The Saturday Night Football broadcast with Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit
ESPN2: Joe Tessitore calls play by play in a “Homers” broadcast with former Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd and former Alabama offensive lineman Barrett Jones.
ESPNews: The Film Room with coaches Dino Babers (Syracuse), Dave Doeren (North Carolina), PJ Fleck (Minnesota), Mark Helfrich (formerly at Oregon), Mike Macintyre (Colorado) and Matt Rhule (Baylor).
ESPNU: ESPN “personalities” chat about the game in a living room situation. Features Michelle Beadle, Jay Bilas, Keyshawn Johnson, Bill Walton (!!!) and Marcellus Wiley. No word if Walton is in charge of snacks.
ESPN Classic: The traditional broadcast but without Fowler and Herbstreit. Just crowd noise.
SEC Network: Paul Finebaum’s film room with Greg McElroy, Booger McFarland and Florida head coach Jim McElwain.
ESPN GoalLine: Split screen with multiple camera angles, including the Skycam and closeups of Nick Saban and Dabo Swiney.
ESPN3 Online Streaming: All of that, plus online streams of the Alabama and Clemson radio calls.

So who have you got, CornNation?

Mike: A lot of people are buying into chaos theory with ‘Bama, especially with the Lane Kiffin departure. I’m not buying it; in fact, I get the read that Alabama is feeling a little bit slighted going into this game. An angry ‘Bama team? Saban is not going to have mercy on Dabo’s soul. Tide 38, Clempson 24.

Greg: I can’t pick Alabama, because that would mean I have turned towards the dark side. So I’m hopeful that Clemson avenges last year’s loss. Tigers 27 Elephants 24

Andy: I would love for the Clemson hillbillies to get their comeuppance and find those extra 5 points they needed last year. Will they find them? I will say yes for a few reasons.

1) Bama trying to act like they’re being disrespected because 100% of pundits aren’t picking blowout is just fucking silly. Us against the world is just a stupid way of approaching this & suggests their minds are not in the right place.
2) Clemson’s offense clicked more as the year went on and is the kind offense that makes Saban want to try & effect NCAA rule changes instead of adapting. Ole Miss put 43 on them and Arkansas 30. Clemson has more weapons.
3) Getting a new offensive coordinator for a title game is bigger than they let on. There’s a rhythm to play calling (see Washington if you don’t believe me) & Sark is out of practice (and Canadian Mist. Sorry, couldn’t resist but seriously - this is the 1st real responsibility after rehab you’re going to lay on a guy??). Saban had his “I’m Keith Hernandez” moment by hiring Kiffin & thinking Bama was big enough to overcome it. He brought the circus to town & the elephants and camels took some big shits. Time to pay for the cleanup.
4) Freshman QB. Title game.
5) How many times have we seen a greatest of all time step on their dicks? 2002 Miami? 2005 Southern Cal?
6) 45-40. Clemson has been aiming for this moment for a full year and found their way back. I say Dabo has them in the right frame of mind.
The giant elephant with its surly midget jockey rider gets taken down by the Tiger

Clemson 34 Bama 30

(Do I sound convincing?)

Jill: I’d prefer to see Clemson win, but this is a sequel. Things never go well for the good guys in sequels. Look at the Empire Strikes Back and Hannibal. Then again, Bama has a freshman QB (everyone’s been waiting for him to give away a game all year and he hasn’t yet) and Clemson has Deshaun Watson. How bad does Watson want the championship? Is he content with his top draft pick status and the millions it promises?

I don’t really believe it but I’m going to type it anyway. Clemson 38 Bama 31. Looking at most of the picks above, I think Cobby put something in the “water” at the CN corporate office...

Brian: I would love to know how Bama’s offense works in this one. I think Clemson’s going to be better in this game, and in the end...... I can’t, I can’t pick Clemson. That Bama D is just a damn monster. Tide by 7