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The final bowl game on the New Year’s Day slate should be the best with the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Clemson Tigers butting heads for the third time in three postseasons in this year’s Allstate Sugar Bowl. Game time from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome is set for 8:45 p.m. on ESPN.
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Alabama vs. Clemson Game Overview<br />
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Alabama needed help to get into this year’s College Football Playoff in light of a season-ending 26-14 loss to bitter rival Auburn as a five-point road favorite. It was the Crimson Tide’s only straight-up loss of the season against 11 wins in a row, but after failing to cover in three of their last four games their record against the spread fell to 5-7. The total also stayed UNDER in seven of those 12 games.
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Sophomore quarterback Jalen Hurts completed 60.8 percent of his 222 passing attempts for 1,940 yards and 15 touchdowns against just one interception. However, his biggest impact on Alabama’s fortunes this season was his ability to also make things happen with his legs as the team’s second-leading rusher with 768 yards and eight more touchdowns on 137 carries. The Tide were 12th in the nation in scoring with 39.1 points per game and they were first on defense in points allowed (11.5).
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Clemson earned its third-straight trip to CFP semifinals with a SU 12-1 run that included a 38-3 romp over Miami in the ACC title game as a 12.5-point favorite. The Tigers were able to cover in their last four games to improve to 8-4-1 ATS and the total stayed UNDER in eight of those 13 games. The lone blemish in this almost perfect run was an unexpected 27-24 loss to Syracuse on Oct. 13 as heavy 23.5-point road favorites.
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Quarterback Kelly Bryant suffered a concussion in that loss to the Orange, but he did not miss any more playing time over the Tigers’ final six games to end the season with 2,678 passing yards and 13 touchdowns. He was also part of a threesome of players that each rushed for at least 600 yards while combining to score 31 touchdowns. Clemson was ranked 21st in the nation in scoring with 35.4 PPG and its defense was second only to Alabama in points allowed (12.8).
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Alabama vs. Clemson Game Betting Trends<br />
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The Crimson Tide have covered in five of their last seven games against the ACC with the total going OVER or ending as a PUSH five of their last six games against this conference. They are 0-4 ATS in their last four games against a team with a SU winning record.
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The Tigers have covered in their last four games against the SEC and they have gone a perfect 7-0 ATS in their last seven bowl games. The total has gone OVER in their last four January games.
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Heading into this third meeting, each team has won once SU with Clemson covering ATS both times. The total went OVER in each game.
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