The 2018 national championship game between Alabama and Clemson is not a negative for college football. In fact, college football has always been replete with dynastic programs that dominate different eras of the game. The current near strangulation hold that Alabama and Clemson possess on the national championship – and the national championship title game – is not new to the landscape of college football.

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A Selection of College Football Domination: 

From 1934 – 1941, Minnesota wins five national championships. The Golden Gophers’ run starts with three consecutive national titles (1934, 1935 and 1936) and ends with back-to-back national championships in 1940 and 1941.

Notre Dame, from 1943 – 1949, wins four national championships (1943, 1946, 1947 and 1949).  Notre Dame’s run is broken up by Army’s consecutive national titles in 1944 and 1945, and then Michigan inserts itself into the mix with a national championship season in 1948.

Two schools account for half the national championships in the 1950s. Oklahoma is named national champion in 1950, 1955 and 1956, and Ohio State enjoys a share of the national title in both 1954 and 1957.

The late 1960s are unique – in that it leads to a three-team share of the national title in 1970. Ohio State captures the 1968 crown. Texas takes the 1969 title. Both Ohio State and Texas share the 1970 national championship with Nebraska. Nebraska then goes on to be named the lone national champion in 1971

USC and Alabama each win outright or have a share of three national titles in the 1970s. USC is named national champion in 1972, 1974 and 1978. Alabama is awarded the designation of national champion in 1973, 1978 and 1979. USC and Alabama share the national title in 1978.

Jimmy Johnson celebrating Miami’s 1988 national championship.

From 1983 – 1991, the Miami Hurricanes win outright or have a share in four national titles. The “U” earns those titles in 1983, 1987, 1989 and holds a share of the 1991 national championship with Washington.

In a span of four years, Nebraska wins outright or shares the national title three times in the 1990s. The Cornhuskers are voted national champion in 1994 and 1995, and then split the 1997 national championship with Michigan.

USC shares a national title with LSU in 2003. In 2004, USC establishes itself as the sole holder of the national championship.

Florida wins titles in 2006 and 2008.

Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide has dominated the last nine years of college football, with national titles in 2009, 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2017, and are favored to win the 2018 national title game versus Clemson.

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For those pigskin pundits commiserating about the ruination of a once great game rife with opportunity for any program to ascend to the national title, those times never existed.

College football is a plutocracy. The rich get richer. And the poor play in the Quick Lane Bowl or don’t play in the ServPro First Responder Bowl.

Clemson versus Alabama is ultimately a boon for college football, because it showcases the sport’s two elite programs.

Did boxing fans complain about the trilogy of fights between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier? Did Larry versus Magic get old? Do hardball fans complain about another tedious playoff series between the Yankees and the Red Sox?

It could be persuasively argued, by folks who believe that college football is synonymous with amateur football, that neither Alabama nor Clemson represent the quaint traditions of the college game. Both programs are college football leviathans that seek one thing: a national championship.

This is a match-up between two heavyweight coaching contenders. Alabama’s Nick Saban and Clemson’s Dabo Swinney provide the game, with two coaching stars, who have become familiar faces to college football fans.

Both schools are the from the heart of college football – the South. Neither fan base will be satisfied with the consolation prize. The stakes are higher for Alabama and Clemson than your average Power 5 Conference program – searching for seven wins and an invite to some obscure bowl game played at a time when only agoraphobic and unemployed alums can view the game.

Tonight, we get the best of college football.