As the Alabama Crimson Tide faces off against the Clemson Tigers this Monday night for the national football championship and the culmination of the four-team college football playoff, it is useful to take note of all the superlatives that we can apply to both of these teams. They were both among the national leaders in a lot of different categories. Certainly we have the two best the collegiate game has to offer. And it kicks off at 8 PM ET at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. BetAnySports customers can get reduced juice before the game, so they can get better odds, and then after the opening kickoff they can take advantage of Live Betting Ultra to keep their action going.

The first thing that should be pointed out here is that Alabama has the best defense in college football, statistically speaking. We doubt there would be many people who would dispute that they have the best defense, period. Alabama comes into this game ranked first in total defense, rushing defense (where they allowed just 62 yards per game) and scoring defense, as they yielded only 11.4 points per contest. Last week, they held Washington to just 194 yards from scrimmage and took a Huskies team that had averaged 44.5 points per game and held them to just a single touchdown, and nothing in the last three quarters.

Clemson's defense ranked #8 in the country, and they were especially good in the area of "passing efficiency defense," ranking #4, just ahead of Alabama. In shutting out Ohio State 31-0 last week, they gave up only 215 total yards.

In this game we have the second and third-highest sack totals in the country, as Alabama checks in at #2 with 50, with Clemson right behind at #3 with 49. Florida State has the top spot.

Want more numbers? Well, in the college football betting odds posted on this game by the people at BetAnySports, Alabama is favored by almost a touchdown:

Alabama Crimson Tide -6.5
Clemson Tigers +6.5

Over 51 points -110
Under 51 points -110

There is a bit of a difference – no, make that of LOT of difference – in the way these two teams move the football. While Alabama is 11th in the country in rushing, Clemson is only 62nd. And in the area of passing offense, Alabama is no higher then #81, while Clemson, behind quarterback Deshaun Watson, is seventh.

Both of these teams have been very efficient on third downs. Clemson has actually converted more than half – 51.2%, to be exact – of their third-down opportunities, and that is fifth best in the country. Alabama is slightly less efficient, at 47.5%, but that still lands them in the top 20. And as far as preventing third-down conversions is concerned, Alabama is seventh, while Clemson is sixth, with both of them holding their opponents slightly under 30%.

Last year against Clemson,. Alabama got a 95-yard kickoff return for a touchdown from Kenyon Drake, as BetAnySports patrons no doubt recall, but this year they are just 90th in that category. Clemson is not a whole lot better at #55, and Alabama lost a key return man, Eddie Jackson, to an injury. So their #5 ranking in punt returns may be a bit deceiving. Remember another key stat here however; Alabama has scored 15 touchdowns on either defense or special teams, while allowing only 16 touchdowns from scrimmage. That's dominance.

Here's something we were interested to find – in the red zone, Alabama is 25th, while Clemson is tied at 71st, getting points on 83.3% of those situations. Both of these teams are reasonably tough against the run, but while, as mentioned, Alabama gives up just 62 yards per game, Clemson, which is ranked 19th in the country, allows only almost twice as much, or 123 ypg. .

Finally, while we recognize that both teams are capable on defense, and were about as capable last season, there were 1023 yards from scrimmage gained by these offenses in last year's championship game – 550 for Clemson and 473 for Alabama. So do not discount that this could be a wide-open affair!

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