CFP National Championship

Alabama’s national championships in 2010 and 2015 are turning into the proving grounds for the coaches who will play for this month’s national championship. Indiana pasted Oregon last night in the Peach Bowl 56 to 22. That sets up a showdown in Miami between the Hoosiers and the Hurricanes between former assistants of retired Alabama coach Nick Saban.

Miami coach Mario Cristobal gathered his offensive linemen together during a pressure-packed, fourth-quarter drive in the Fiesta Bowl and delivered a message to the big, beefy guys he knows so well. You five are about to lead the way for the winning touchdown.Before last night’s college football semi final against Ole Miss, Cristobal thought back on his days at Alabama and the impact working for Saban had on his career

The head coaches in the College football championship semifinals all have one thing in common. All four of them once worked for Alabama’s retired head coach Nick Saban.

Number one ranked Indiana became the first team in the brief history of the 12-team College Football Playoff to win a game after receiving a first-round bye, smothering Alabama 38-3 in a quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl on Thursday. Fans of the Crimson Tide may be seeking solace with social media posts on how all of the coaches playing for the semi-finals, and the college football title, all worked as assistants for retired Alabama coach Nick Saban. That list doesn’t include the Tide’s Kalen DeBoer.

Alabama rallied from a 17-point deficit once in the College Football Playoff against Oklahoma, but there would not be a repeat performance against No. 1 Indiana in a quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl. The Crimson Tide tried everything possible to stage a historic comeback on the site of so many memorable moments for the program.

Last weekend's first round of the College Football Playoff averaged 9.9 million viewers on ABC, ESPN, TNT, TBS and truTV, according to ESPN and Nielson. That is a 7% drop from last year. Alabama's win over Oklahoma was the exception.

Alabama and Indiana couldn't have more different football histories. This Indiana team couldn't be more unlike the program's painful past. Alabama will play No. 1 Indiana in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1 in a national quarterfinal matchup between a blue blood and the ultimate upstart. Alabama is one of the most successful programs in college football, with six national titles this century. Indiana has never won a New Year’s Six game and has no bowl victories since 1991.

Alabama’s football season may come down to one game tonight. The Crimson Tide will play Oklahoma before a hometown crowd in Norman. The winner will face number one ranked Indiana in the Rose Bowl during the championship quarterfinals. The only playoff game tonight is considered a toss-up, and that’s generating interest among sports bettors in what looks like a lackluster post season for Las Vegas oddsmakers.

Alabama’s loss to Georgia during the SEC Championship did not cost the team its shot at the championship. The College Football Playoff Committee put the Tide at number nine against Oklahoma.

Alabama is forcing the committee that will set the College Football Playoff bracket to revisit an old question: Should a 12-team tournament to determine the national champion include a program with three losses? And Duke is bringing up a new head-scratcher that nobody really thought of before: Could a team possibly make the playoff with five?