Clemson’s 44-16 win in Monday night’s national championship game not only represented a historic loss for Nick Saban’s Alabama, it also drastically shifted the power dynamic in the budding rivalry between college football’s two powerhouses.

Dabo Swinney, whose Tigers had posted a 1-2 record against the Crimson Tide in the College Football Playoffs, had previously said he wouldn’t consider Alabama a true rival until Clemson defeated it again. The Tigers did just that to claim their second national title over the last three seasons, and the result had Swinney changing his tune when asked if he believes his team’s rivalry with the Crimson Tide is now stronger.

“Probably a little bit more now,” Swinney told reporters Tuesday. “Little brother has kind of grown up a little bit, and we’re a little bit more competitive. Now we’ve kind of won the rubber match, if you will, in the (national championship games). It’s 2-2 overall (in the CFP).

“I told Coach Saban last night — he was very gracious after the game — and I just told him, I said, ‘See you next year,’ because I don’t think they’re going to go anywhere. They’ll be back.”

Swinney considers the rivalry to be “like maybe brothers, kind of a sibling rivalry,” and that may have something to with the coach’s roots. The Birmingham native played and coached for the Crimson Tide before going to Clemson in 2003.

“You know, listen, I have so much respect for Alabama,” Swinney said. “I mean, Alabama is home, it will always be a place that I love, and I’ve got a lot of family, and I look at it the same at Clemson. It’s home, it’s family. It’s a very healthy rivalry. I think there’s a lot of respect.”