Alabama, Clemson exude dominance

Associated Press

Clemson and Alabama have turned college football largely into a two-team show with blowouts wins, conference domination and national championships.

The Tigers and Crimson Tide have split the last four national titles, matching the combined number of losses they’ve had against the rest of the country.

They are making league races look like foregone conclusions before they even start, even if players and coaches in the Atlantic Coast and Southeastern conferences try to argue otherwise.

“There may have been a time [like this] but I don’t remember it,” Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner John Swofford said in an interview with The Associated Press during the league’s preseason media days. “The first couple of years you didn’t think that much about it.

“But we’ve had four years where those two programs have in a sense separated themselves competitively on the field.

“You give them their due because it’s been a remarkable run for both programs that appears to not be softening.”

Not much, anyway. Just about the only vulnerability they have shown has come against one another.

Dabo Swinney’s Tigers are the reigning national champions after a blowout win against Nick Saban’s Crimson Tide, marking Clemson’s second title-game win against Alabama in three seasons.

Alabama beat Clemson in a classic 2015 final, then thumped the Tigers in the 2017 semifinals on the way to another title.

Along the way, both have gone 55-4 dating to the 2015 season, including 53-2 against the rest of college football.

Georgia, which lost to Alabama to end the 2017 season and in last year’s SEC championship game, is the only other team to appear in a national final amid the run.

“I mean, those are realities of competition,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey told the AP. “And one should not assume it will always be that way or it’s going to stay in place, even though there are preseason projections. I get that. But every week is part of that determination.

... It’s just a reality that’s played out. And there are reasons for that.”