Clemson Winning the National Championship and taking down Alabama in the process made the headlines you’d expect, including the kind of memes you’d expect- going over everything: Trevor Lawrence, Nick Saban, Crying Jordan, Bird Box and even Killmonger as Dabo Swinney.
This wasn’t an ordinary loss. Alabama lost to Clemson in the title game before, but this was the worst loss of the Saban era. Lawrence emerged as the quarterback of the future in College Football and in the NFL, whenever he decides to go. And Swinney has taken over the throne of the #1 head coach in the sport.
Saban didn’t come prepared. He said so, in different words, after the game. He was surprised by some of the things that happened. He took risks, but poor ones. His team scored 3 points after the first quarter. Shut out in the second half. Earth shattering.
What does this mean for the future? Hard to say. Clemson will be the #1 in all the “way-too-early” preseason rankings. Alabama will be #2. But the center of College Football axis of power shifted to South Carolina, at least for one year.
