The stage has been set for the 2021 College Football National Championship game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Ohio State Buckeyes.
It has been confirmed that the annual game, which began with the formation of the College Football Playoff in 2014, will take place on Monday, January 11 to determine the champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision.
Last year’s National Championship was one for the ages, as the LSU Tigers – led by Heisman trophy winner and would-be first overall NFL draft pick Joe Burrow – lit up the Clemson Tigers in a 42-25 win. This year’s match-up promises more of the same excitement.
No 1 seed Alabama, who blew out No 4 seed Notre Dame 31-14 in the Rose Bowl, enter the game unbeaten on the season, with a 12-0 record.
Ohio State similarly have not lost a single game, standing with a 7-0 record. Ranked the third best team in college football, they upset the 2019 championship winners, and 2020 runners-up, Clemson Tigers 49-28 in the Sugar Bowl.
The teams have not met since 2015, when OSU upset 42-35 in the semi-final before winning their last national title. Six years on, this game is nothing to go off, and Alabama have emerged the clear favourites to win the championship.
Besides the simple fact of being the No 1 seed in the play-offs, this season will mark the Tide’s fifth appearance in the game since it began in 2014 – the most of any team. A win this season will also put them ahead of Clemson for the most College Football Playoff finals won.
Looking at Alabama’s roster gives further assurance they are favourites. This week, Bama wide receiver Devonta Smith was awarded the Heisman Trophy– the prize given to the best player in college football.
Aside from Smith two other Tide players were finalists as quarterback Mac Jones and running back Najee Harris finished third and fifth in the voting, respectively. All three of Alabama’s Heisman finalists were named the best college football player at their position.
But while Alabama is undoubtedly the favourite to be crowned champions, Ohio State’s side has been impressive and will look to upset the 17-time champions, having already beaten the Clemson Tigers.
Like Alabama, the Buckeyes roster is full of talent, with quarterback Justin Fields, who is expected to be taken within the first couple of picks in the upcoming NFL draft, looking to increase his draft stock.
Similarly, cornerback Shaun Wade is also expected to be taken in the first round and will be one to watch in his much-anticipated matchup with Heisman winner Devonta Smith – a matchup which Wade knows will garner much attention.
Wade said: ‘DeVonta is a very great player, quick and shifty and fast, you see it on his highlights. He can do everything in the book as a receiver, and [I’m] just really looking for that matchup at the end of the day.’
Wade’s optimism speaks for the entire Buckeyes roster and for good reason. Alabama is no doubt a daunting opponent but Ohio State have not been one for folding in the face of adversity this season.
Covid-19 has thrown the entire college football season through a loop, hence why OSU played five fewer games than their upcoming opponent. For this reason, many around the game have expressed their belief that OSU is not a legitimate play-off team.
Though reports of a coronavirus outbreak within the Ohio State locker room came about in the weeks leading up to the championship game, head coach Ryan Day is adamant that no background issues will get the better of his side.
Day said: ‘We’ve had starters all over the place down at different times, and we’ve found ways to work through it… We’ve got a new set of challenges this week. We’re going to have to figure it out, go down to Miami and play.’
The odds seem forever stacked against Ohio State, but to overcome their challenges this season, and to win a championship would be the perfect way to defy their doubters – though to do so, OSU must face up to their biggest challenge yet.
The College Football Playoff final will kick-off at 1am GMT on Tuesday, January 12 (8pm Monday, January 11 local time) at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami.
By Kit McIntosh
