Kirk Herbstreit compares Alabama-Clemson title games to Ali-Frazier fights
By Adam Spencer
Published:
For the third time in the last four years, the Alabama Crimson Tide and Clemson Tigers will meet with a title on the line.
Some fans are getting sick of the two elite programs playing for championships all the time, but ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit isn’t among them.
In fact, he said in an interview with For The Win that he thinks it’s like when Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier would fight each other in the boxing ring:
This is becoming a new rivalry because anytime you have so much at stake, where a team’s going to win a championship — whether they win or lose — you’re going to create a lot of excitement and a lot energy and a lot of animosity. And Alabama is the Darth Vader of college football if you’re not an Alabama fan because they win so much. And Clemson just happens to be a team that’s been bold enough and talented enough to get into the ring with them and hang around and, one time, knock them off.
If you put your own rooting bias aside, I don’t know how you can’t be excited to watch two teams — who are they best — go at it. It’s kind of like when Ali and Frazier were the two best. It didn’t diminish their fight when they got together a second or third time. It made it more intriguing.
The Tide and Tigers split their first two title meetings, with Alabama winning a semifinal matchup last year. Monday night’s game will decide who takes a 2-1 advantage heading into next year.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
