Two teams that are extremely familiar with each other face off yet again in the 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship Game. Alabama and Clemson will meet in the postseason for the fourth consecutive season. Alabama has won two of the last three meetings and leads the overall series 14-4. Clemson advanced to the 2019 National Championship after dismantling Notre Dame 30-3, while Alabama cruised to an impressive 45-34 victory over Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. The Crimson Tide enter Monday's matchup as a five-point favorite with the total at 58.5 in the latest Alabama vs. Clemson odds. Before you make any 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship predictions, make sure to check out the top Alabama vs. Clemson picks from SportsLine college football guru Tom Fornelli.
Fornelli went 108-79 in his popular CBS Sports column the past two years, and his renowned "Twitter Tips" are 105-76 the past three seasons. He joined SportsLine this season and enters the College Football National Championship Game on a blistering 7-1 run on his point-spread selections. Anyone who has followed him is way, way up.
Now, Fornelli is dialed in on Alabama vs. Clemson and just locked in strong College Football Playoff picks. You can only see them at SportsLine.
Fornelli knows nobody has been able to slow down Alabama's explosive offense all season. The Crimson Tide average 365 yards through the air and over 200 yards on the ground, combining to rank fifth in the country with 528 yards per game. Alabama racked up over 500 total yards yet again against Oklahoma, thanks in part to an impressive performance from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. The Crimson Tide quarterback finished 24-of-27 passing for 318 yards and four touchdowns.
Alabama's ground game was also on full display against the Sooners after the Crimson Tide jumped out to an early 28-0 lead. Running back Joshua Jacobs had a huge day, rushing the ball 15 times for 98 yards while adding four catches for 60 yards and a score. With Alabama's rushing attack averaging over five yards per carry, expect the Crimson Tide to commit to running the ball early and often to set up their play-action game to take shots downfield.
But just because the Tide boast an explosive offense doesn't mean they can cover the Clemson vs. Alabama spread.
Clemson features one of the best defensive units in the nation. In fact, the Tigers have the second-ranked scoring defense, allowing opponents to score just 13.7 points per game. And they've held their opponents to 10 points or fewer in seven of their last nine games.
The Tigers also have some punching power of their own on offense. True freshman Trevor Lawrence has been brilliant since taking over as the starting quarterback, with a 155.2 QB rating while leading an offense that is averaging over 47 points in its last nine games.
Fornelli has analyzed this matchup from every possible angle and while we can tell you he's leaning over, he has isolated a strong X-factor that makes one side of the spread a must-back. He's only sharing what it is, and who to back, at SportsLine.
Who wins Alabama vs. Clemson? And what strong X-factor causes one side of the spread to hit hard? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the College Football Playoff National Championship Game spread you need to jump on, all from a seasoned expert who's nailed seven of his last eight spread picks, and find out.
