Clemson Football: CBS Analysts give their National Championship predictions

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - DECEMBER 29: Travis Etienne #9 of the Clemson Tigers celebrates after a 62 yard touchdown run in the third quarter against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the College Football Playoff Semifinal Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic at AT&T Stadium on December 29, 2018 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - DECEMBER 29: Travis Etienne #9 of the Clemson Tigers celebrates after a 62 yard touchdown run in the third quarter against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish during the College Football Playoff Semifinal Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic at AT&T Stadium on December 29, 2018 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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The Clemson football team will take on the Alabama Crimson Tide for the National Championship. The CBS panel of analysts gave their predictions on the game.

The Clemson football team took care of business against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the Cotton Bowl.

With the win, the Tigers advanced to the National Championship for the third time in the past four years.

Just like every other year, Clemson will play the Alabama Crimson Tide. The two teams have matched up the past three years with Alabama leading the series 2-1. In 2015 and 2016, the two teams split National Championship matchups.

In 2017, Alabama beat Clemson in the CFB Playoff semifinal and then went on to beat Georgia in the National Championship.

With all that history, it’s become clear that these two programs are heads and shoulders better than every other program in the nation. Because of that, it has made the predictions tough on this game.

The CBS panel of analysts gave their predictions on the game and, to no surprise, the vast majority of them favor Alabama to win the game straight up.

Here’s a look at their predictions.

CBS analyst predictions:

  • Dennis Dodd (Bama straight-up, Clemson against the spread)
  • Jerry Palm (Bama straight-up, Clemson against the spread)
  • Tom Fornelli (Bama straight-up, Clemson against the spread)
  • Chip Patterson (Clemson straight-up, Clemson against the spread)
  • Barton Simmons (Bama straight-up, Clemson against the spread)
  • Barrett Sallee (Clemson straight-up, Clemson against the spread)
  • Ben Kercheval (Clemson straight-up, Clemson against the spread)
  • Adam Silverstein (Bama straight-up, Clemson against the spread)
  • Brandon Wise (Bama straight-up, Bama against the spread)

While the vast majority of CBS analysts are picking Alabama straight-up, only one analyst (Wise) picked Bama against that touchdown spread.

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That tells me that every analyst believes this is going to be a close game. Chip Patterson, Barrett Sallee and Ben Kercheval all picked the Tigers to not only cover the spread, but to win the game.

It should be a fun one Monday night. We’ll have much more as we get closer to kickoff, just make sure you check back here on Rubbing the Rock.