When college football kicked off in late August, the public already had its champion crowned. The Alabama Crimson Tide, coming off their 5th title win in the Nick Saban era, were poised to repeat.

Why even watch when the inevitable was staring us right in the face? The writing was on the wall and it was as clear as day – Alabama would cruise to its 18th national title and we were just along for the ride.  No matter the cliche, all signs pointed to a Bama repeat.

Throughout the season, those preconceived ideas looked more and more realistic each week. The Tide never had to face a real challenge this season, except maybe being tied at halftime against The Citadel, a game that saw Bama roll over them in the second half. People even used a common mantra that has been on the headlines of many sports pages in the last few years: “Super Team.”

However, people who crowned Bama at the start of the year forgot about something: There is another team from the south that has not quite matched the Tide’s dominant 12 year run, but has certainly been their equal lately: Clemson.

Monday night proved that while Bama is still a powerhouse, there was another potential “Super Team” in the game.

On Monday night, the two met in  their 4th consecutive Playoff match up, including their 3rd National Championship game in 4 years.

Santa Clara, California was the venue for the 5th National Championship game in the Playoff era, and it was the Trevor Lawrence Show. The true freshman quarterback for the Tigers dominated the Bama defense in surprising fashion. Many did not expect Clemson to just go like that and thought that the Tide would just steamroll over them. But NO ONE expected the Tigers to dominate as much as they did.

Alabama had nothing on defense against Lawrence and Co. After a classic first quarter that saw Clemson take the lead 14-13, Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney’s guys pushed a little further in the second to take a commanding 31-16 lead at the break before Imagine Dragons and Lil Wayne did… something. (Seriously, whose idea was it to have those 2 collab… Probably the same person who told Lil Wayne he looked good in that outfit)

Moving on, the last two quarters was all Orange. Clemson’s defense was stingy as stingy as an Alabama opponent can be and then some. Lawrence tossed two touchdown passes in the third, including a 74-yarder to wide receiver Justyn Ross.

As the clock hit triple zeroes, the scoreboard read 44-16, and it was orange confetti that shot into the air. Clemson was crowned champion for the 3rd time in school history, and the 2nd time in 3 years – with both victories coming against the Tide.  After the game, Lawrence, who replaced starting quarterback Kelly Bryant early in the season, had a prediction that Clemson fans would love to hear. In reference to the expectations for him and his team over the next three years, he told ESPN:“Probably three more {titles}, hopefully.”

Only time will tell whether or not Lawrence and his teammates can make good on that prediction, but one thing is certainly clear, the next three years of Clemson football are gonna be quite fascinating to watch.