How ’bout that national championship game, huh? Man, I bet the Cardinals fans who took seriously Ben Fredrickson’s decree to cheer for the Crimson Tide in order to combat a “Clemson-Cubs allegiance” are feeling even saltier than Murray Chass this morning. In avenging last year’s loss, Dabo Swinney and his Tigers ended a losing streak against Alabama that stretched back to 1905, even longer than the Cubs’ famed drought.
It’s not exactly comparing apples to Orange Bowls, but Swinney was tasked with rebuilding a stumbling program and setting it on a path of consistent competition when he took the helm at Clemson in 2008.