On deck: Alabama-Clemson matchup III

The three-peat will be complete. Then again, there might be a few more chapters in college football’s most intriguing new rivalry.

For the third year in a row, Clemson will meet Alabama in the College Football Playoff, only this time it will be in the Sugar Bowl semifinal on Monday night in New Orleans rather than the national championship game.

They’ll be hard-pressed to match the drama and excitement of the last two meetings: Alabama’s 45-40 victory that featured 40 points in the final 10 1⁄2 minutes, followed by Clemson’s 35-31 triumph on a touchdown pass with one second remaining .

“We haven’t competed against each other a lot,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said Sunday on the eve of the New Year’s night game. “But all of a sudden you’ve got this three-game series that has just happened at the highest level. And this is kind of a rubber match. But, to be honest with you, this is probably not going to be the last one. There will probably be more of these down the road.”

Atlantic Coast Conference champion Clemson (12-1) is the top seed in the playoff, bouncing back from a shocking 27-24 loss to Syracuse in mid-October . Alabama (11-1) didn’t even get a chance to play for the Southeastern Conference title, losing to Auburn in the regularseason finale after being ranked No. 1 all season by The Associated Press.

Despite the setback, the selection committee went with the Tide as the No. 4 seed over Big Ten champ Ohio State.

That set up Clemson-Alabama, Part III.

The winner of the Sugar Bowl will meet the winner of the Rose Bowl matchup between No. 2-seeded Oklahoma (12-1) and No. 3 Georgia (12-1). Both programs feature first-year coaches in the the Sooners’ Lincoln Riley and the Bulldogs’ Kirby Smart.