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Alabama and Clemson put on a tremendous show on Monday night in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game. The Crimson Tide ended up coming out on top, 45-40, to claim their fourth national title in the last seven seasons and make Nick Saban‘s program the likely favorites heading into the 2016-17 season. Here are five teams that could prevent Alabama from repeating.
5. Notre Dame
Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports5. Notre Dame
Jaylon Smith, Will Fuller and Ronnie Stanley will all depart, but Malik Zaire and DeShone Kizer will both return at quarterback which will be huge for Brian Kelly's team. The Fighting Irish nearly crashed the College Football Playoff party this year before a last-second field goal by Stanford eliminated them during the final game of the season.
4. Baylor
Credit: Raymond Carlin III-USA TODAY Sports4. Baylor
Losing Corey Coleman, Spencer Drango, Shawn Oakman and likely Andrew Billings will be tough for the Bears, but the return of Seth Russell and the majority of the offense will give them a chance to beat anyone. This offense is so explosive that I'm not sure any defense in the country can slow it down when everyone's healthy.
3. Ohio State
Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports3. Ohio State
The Buckeyes will be losing a bunch of guys defensively, but they'll return quarterback J.T. Barrett who won't have to compete with anybody else for the starting job. As we've seen since Urban Meyer has taken over at Ohio State, the Buckeyes will be there in the end.
2. LSU
Credit: Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports2. LSU
The Tigers struggled in the passing game all season long, but Brandon Harris looked like a different quarterback in the bowl game against Texas Tech. If he can improve over the summer, the Tigers should be SEC champions as Leonard Fournette competes for the Heisman.
1. Clemson Tigers
Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports1. Clemson Tigers
Losing Shaq Lawson, and likely Mackensie Alexander, the Tigers will have some important pieces to replace defensively, but offensively, Deshaun Watson, Wayne Gallman, Artavis Scott and Jordan Leggett will all return. It's entirely possible that Clemson enters 2016 as the No. 1 team in the nation over Alabama.
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