2017 College Football Playoff National Championship

2017 College Football Playoff National Championship presented by AT&T
3rd College Football Playoff National Championship
Clemson Tigers Alabama Crimson Tide (13–1) (14–0) ACC SEC 35 31 Head coach:  Dabo Swinney Head coach:  Nick Saban AP Coaches CFP 3 3 2 AP Coaches CFP 1 1 1
1 2 3 4 Total Clemson 0 7 7 21 35 Alabama 7 7 10 7 31
Date	January 9, 2017
Season	2016
Stadium	Raymond James Stadium
Location	Tampa, Florida
MVP	Offensive: #4 QB Deshaun Watson, Jr. Clemson Defensive: #10 LB Ben Boulware, Sr. Clemson
Favorite	Alabama by 6.5
National anthem	Little Big Town
Referee	Mike Defee (Big 12)
Halftime show	Clemson University Tiger Band Million Dollar Band
Attendance	74,512
United States TV coverage
Network	ESPN and ESPN Radio
Announcers	Chris Fowler (play-by-play) Kirk Herbstreit (analyst) Samantha Ponder and Tom Rinaldi (sideline) (ESPN) Sean McDonough, Todd Blackledge, Holly Rowe and Ian Fitzsimmons (ESPN Radio)
Nielsen ratings	15.3 (26.03 million viewers)[1]
International TV coverage
Network	ESPN Deportes ESPN Deportes Radio
Announcers	Eduardo Varela and Pablo Virugela (ESPN Deportes) Kenneth Garay and Sebastian M. Christensen (ESPN Deportes Radio)
College Football Playoff National Championship  < 2016  2018 >

The 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship was a college football bowl game that was played on January 9, 2017, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. The third College Football Playoff National Championship, the game determined a national champion for the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for the 2016 season. It was the culminating game of the 2016–17 bowl season. Sponsored by telecommunications company AT&T, the game was officially known as the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship presented by AT&T.^[2]

The game was played between the winners of two pre-designated bowl games played on December 31, 2016: the Clemson Tigers, who defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Fiesta Bowl, and the Alabama Crimson Tide, who defeated the Washington Huskies in the Peach Bowl. Having met in the previous year's championship game, the resulting title game between Clemson and Alabama became college football's first rematch between #1 and #2 in national championship game history.^[3]

The Tigers won the game 35–31 on a go-ahead touchdown with one second left, having come back from a 14–0 deficit earlier in the game. Watson threw to WR Hunter Renfrow for the game winner. Clemson quarterback and Heisman Finalist Deshaun Watson set the record for most passing yards in a championship game with 420, breaking his own record of 405 yards set in the 2016 National Championship Game.^[4][5] Deshaun Watson and Ben Boulware were named the Offensive and Defensive Most Valuable Players, respectively. It was Clemson’s first national title since 1981.