Alabama head coach Nick Saban, left, and Clemson head coach...

Alabama head coach Nick Saban, left, and Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney talk before the Sugar Bowl semifinal playoff game on Jan. 1, 2018 Credit: AP/Gerald Herbert

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Alabama and Clemson are about to complete a trilogy that will determine the national championship for the third time in four seasons and define the decade of transition from the old Bowl Championship Series to the College Football Playoff.

When the Crimson Tide (14-0) and the Tigers (14-0) meet Monday evening at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, they’ll be matching up for the fourth consecutive year in the postseason and for the third time in the title game.

“I think this sort of has become a little bit like someone you play in your league because we have played several years in a row now,” Nick Saban said.

He will go for a sixth national title with Alabama — which would tie former Crimson Tide coach Paul “Bear” Bryant — and his seventh overall, which would be a record. Alabama, the 5  1⁄2-point favorite, is trying to earn its 18th national crown.

Clemson is seeking its second championship in three seasons and third overall. Alabama already has secured its place as the dominant program in the decade, with championships in the 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2017 seasons to follow its first title under Saban in 2009. Another Clemson triumph would make the Tigers the most prominent challenger in the decade.

“It’s a heavyweight fight,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said, “but for it to be a true rivalry, we’ve got to win a few.”

Clemson beat Alabama in the final two years ago after losing it to the Tide the previous season.

Clemson has the No. 1 scoring defense in the nation, allowing 12.9 points a game. Alabama’s scoring average of 47.7 points is second to Oklahoma. Clemson is No. 4 in scoring with 44.3 points per game and Alabama has the No. 5 defense (16.2).

Alabama will be without three players who were suspended before the semifinal against Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. Saban said they violated NCAA rules. Among them is starting left guard Deonte Brown. Lester Cotton is expected to take Brown’s place in the starting lineup, as he did in the semifinal.

Clemson will be without three players who were suspended before the Cotton Bowl victory over Notre Dame after trace amounts of the banned substance ostarine appeared in a random drug test. Defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence was the only starter to be suspended.

“I’m thankful we got Albert Huggins,” Swinney said of the senior who will take Lawrence’s place.

The game will complete a circle for Alabama sophomore quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, the Maxwell Award winner and Walter Camp Player of the Year, who came off the bench in the second half to rescue the Tide in the final against Georgia last January. Tagovailoa’s 41-yard touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith on the last play of the season transformed a once-obscure backup into one of the best-known players in the country.

This season Tagovailoa beat out junior Jalen Hurts, who had led the Tide to a 26-2 record in two seasons. “You’ve got to go in with the mindset that everyone’s competitors, but at the end of the day, we can all be friends,” Tagovailoa said.

At the end of the fifth season under the four-team playoff format, the collective success of the two most dominant programs raised a question Sunday: Is another Clemson-Alabama final good for college football?

“I don’t really get too concerned about a lot of other programs,” Saban said.

Swinney was more blunt: “I’m not going to apologize for having a great team.”

A TALE OF THE TAPE

Category Alabama Clemson

2018 W-L 14-0 14-0

CFP rank 1 2

Conference SEC ACC

Nickname Crimson Tide Tigers

National championships* 17 2

CFP appearances (W-L) 5 (6-2) 4 (4-2)

Coach Nick Saban Dabo Swinney

12 seasons (141-20, .876) 11 seasons (115-30, .793)

CFP semifinal Def. Oklahoma, 45-34 Def. Notre Dame, 30-3

Key players QB Tua Tagovailoa, So. QB Trevor Lawrence, Fr.

RB Damien Harris, Sr. RB Travis Etienne, So.

WR Jerry Jeudy, So. WR Hunter Renfrow, Sr.

DT Quinnen Williams, So. DE Clelin Ferrell, Jr.

Key suspended player LG Deonte Brown, So. DT Dexter Lawrence, Jr.

Famous ex-player Joe Namath William “Refrigerator” Perry

Famous alumni Justice Hugo Black Sen. Strom Thurmond

Heisman winners 2-Mark Ingram (2009), None

Derrick Henry (2015)

Mascot Big Al The Tiger

Fight song “Yea Alabama” “Tiger Rag”

Motto Roll Tide Hold That Tiger

Unofficial nickname T-Town Death Valley

All-time meetings 18 (Alabama leads the series, 14-4)

Largest victory Alabama won, 74-7, in 1931

Last meeting Alabama won, 24-6, last year in CFP semifinal

*Poll era (1936-present)

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