It’s been a nerve-racking week for Alabama fans after losing the Iron Bowl 26-14 last Saturday.

There was concern that the Crimson Tide wouldn’t make the Playoff for the first time since its creation in 2014; instead Alabama was seeded No. 4 and became the only team to be selected all four years.

Squeaking in isn’t something that Alabama is used to. In fact, this will be the first time that the Tide have not entered the Playoff holding at least the No. 2 spot in the Playoff.

This year seems to have a little bit of a different feel to it, but it could actually benefit the Tide. Entering as the No. 4 team, the pressure won’t fall on Alabama’s shoulders — at least not in the same way that it has in the past.

As it stands, Clemson — the defending champion and No. 1 seed — is the team with the biggest target on its back. The ironic part is the Tigers will take on the Tide in New Orleans in the first round.

This will be the third consecutive year they’ve met in the Playoff. The first two, obviously, were in the national championship game. Alabama won in 2015, Clemson gained revenge in 2016. Both games were competitive.

It seems like everything is trending in the right direction for the Crimson Tide, too. While Georgia and Auburn were battling in the SEC Championship, Alabama spent the week trying to get healthy.

That couldn’t have come at a better time, either.

Alabama saw two of its top edge rushers — Christian Miller and Terrell Lewis — and linebacker Mack Wilson return against Auburn, but all three ended up playing more snaps than expected.

That trio — in addition to players such as Minkah Fitzpatrick and Ross Pierschbacher, who have been banged up — will have plenty of time to rest before the showdown in New Orleans on New Year’s Day.

With Alabama idle on Saturday, Clemson dominated Miami 38-3 to win the ACC Championship.

That performance sent a message that while Bama won’t have to worry about Deshaun Watson, this Clemson team is a force to be reckoned with.

For anyone who thinks the Tigers aren’t bringing competent quarterback play with them to New Orleans need to check again, however.

Kelly Bryant has thrown for 2,678 yards and 13 touchdowns while completing 67.4 percent of his passes. The 6-4, 220-pound junior has also been phenomenal as a runner — rushing for 646 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground.

He’s not Watson, but he’s dangerous. It’s no coincidence that in Clemson’s only loss, the surprising 27-24 on a Friday night at Syracuse, Bryant was knocked out and didn’t play the second half. He entered that game already gimpy, playing on a sprained ankle.

Clemson leads the nation with 44 sacks, and that has contributed to its No. 6 ranked defense overall.

Clemson deserves the No. 1 ranking, but the No. 1 seed has yet to win the championship.

No. 1 Alabama lost in the semifinal in 2014. No. 1 Clemson lost the title game in 2015, and No. 1 Alabama lost the title game in 2016.

As it sits, Nick Saban has gone 6-2 in games that were either a national championship or Playoff game since coming to Alabama in 2007. The two losses were by a combined 11 points.

Another key point is that Alabama is a perfect 3-0 when they weren’t the No. 1 team in games that had title implications — Clemson (2015), Notre Dame (2012) and LSU (2011).

When you take all of this into consideration, there is no reason to believe that “Alabama vs. Clemson: Part III” won’t be every bit as good as the first two games — which both went down to the wire and resulted in each team winning by less than a touchdown.