Athlon picks Alabama over Clemson for 2019 title

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Athlon Sports released its 2019 college football season projections on Monday, where they see Alabama avenging its 44-16 loss to Clemson this January.

Their 2019 top-5 is Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Michigan and Ohio State.

"The last image of Alabama in the 2018 college football season was a blowout loss at the hands of Clemson in the national championship. Defeats like the one the Crimson Tide suffered in Santa Clara simply don't happen under coach Nick Saban's watch," Athlon's Steven Lassan wrote. "But after another offseason of coaching changes, Alabama is poised for another run at the national championship – the sixth during Saban's tenure."

Athlon counts Alabama as having the best receiving corps in college football for Heisman finalist Tua Tagovailoa and a number of talented players returning on defense.

Their argument against Trevor Lawrence and the Tigers appears to be as much history as anything.

"Only one team (Alabama) has won back-to-back national titles since the start of the BCS era," Lassan wrote. "But with Lawrence and a talented cast of playmakers in place on offense, along with a standout defense, the Tigers have all of the necessary pieces to reverse that trend."

Other projected top-25 teams in Clemson's path include Texas A&M (10) and Syracuse (21), as well as a potential matchup with Virginia (25) in the ACC title game.

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