Clemson and Alabama drooling over rematch

U.S. COLLEGE FOOTBALL

TODD SAELHOF It’s on, baby.

The rematch — the one that everybody wanted one year ago when the Alabama Crimson Tide escaped with the crown in the NCAA finale — is on.

The top two teams in the U.S. for the better part of the last 18 months are back to meet Monday night in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game in Tampa, Fla (TSN).

No. 1 Alabama versus the No. 2 Clemson Tigers. A heavyweight bout, to be sure. “These are the two best teams,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said Saturday at the CFP Media Day. “And to be honest with you, I don’t think there’s another team out there that’s capable of beating Alabama. I think we’re probably the only team that has a chance.

“We’ve got a solid chance. But we’ve got to go toe to toe. Whoever is (Muhammad) Ali, whoever is (Joe) Frazier, it’s two great guys battling it out.”

Sweeney’s not wrong, mainly because his then-No. 1 Tigers did go toe-to-toe with the then-No. 2 Crimson Tide a year ago.

In case you missed it, Alabama beat Clemson 45-40 in last year’s title fight in Glendale, Ariz.

It was a contest that saw the Tigers get a superb game from Heisman Trophy finalist Deshaun Watson, the dual-threat quarterback best suited among all NCAA pivots to beat the Tide, only to fall to a big-game team.

It was rare to see Alabama not completely dominate when it counts most, which is why Swinney & Co. have an edge heading into this edition of the CFP National Championship Game. They’ve been here before. They’ve seen this before. And they know they can hang with the vaunted Tide.

Plus there’s that redemption thing which kicks in for Clemson, especially for those Tigers — Watson included — who won’t be back for a third kick at the can if such a thing against Alabama is in the cards.

This is Clemson’s best shot — and maybe only one — at taking down the Tide and claiming the NCAA crown.

Trouble is Alabama, gunning for its fifth championship in eight seasons, probably won’t get that memo.

Meanwhile, Alabama head coach Nick Saban’s move last Monday to part ways with offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin on the eve of the title game begs so many questions — the biggest being how it will affect Tide QB Jalen Hurts. Remember, freshman Hurts is just 18 years old, so the change of voice in his headset — that of new OC Steve Sarkisian — come game-time has to be strange and — because of his young age — potentially gamechanging in a negative way.

Whatever the rationale, let’s just hope this decision by Saban — seemingly rash — doesn’t tarnish the college guru’s legendary status. But this is Saban, a guy who rarely takes a hit when it comes to football decisions.

The Rockets stood at the forefront of the NBA’s analytics revolution, under general manager Daryl Morey and his then-assistant Sam Hinkie.

They believed in the value of three-pointers (as many as possible), in minimizing “bad” shots, like long two-pointers and looking deeper into stats. Most franchises have gone in that direction, but the Rockets set the tone. The team’s NBA Development League squad has been used for years as a group of guinea pigs, going three-point and layup crazy.

In the off-season, Morey brought in gunners Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson, along with D’Antoni, who enjoyed spectacular success with Steve Nash when he coached in Phoenix.

Nearly every team is shooting a ton of three-pointers now, but Houston takes it to another level at about 40 attempts a game. By comparison, the least frequent three-point shooting team, Chicago, attempts half as many, the Raptors, only 24.5 per night.

Houston is reshaping the way teams have to scheme defensively, because they launch so many outside shots, often from way beyond the three-point arc.

“Offence has gotten so sophisticated, players have gotten so much better with their skills, three-point shooting, ball-handling skills,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said recently.