Alabama Trounces Clemson and Everybody Else in the College Football Money Game

The business model of college football, long a financial boon to universities, is breaking down. This is the last in a weeklong look at the pressures of rising costs, falling revenue, and what, if anything, universities can do about it. Read the rest of the series here.

The University of Alabama is favored to beat Clemson in the college football championship tonight and with good reason. The Crimson Tide played a harder schedule than the Tigers, gave up fewer points, and went undefeated. At the end of the season, Alabama finished first in all six College Football Playoff polls; in the Associated Press ranking, the team got all 61 first-place votes.