The College Football Playoff National Championship (CFPNC) is a post-season bowl game that has been staged since the Bowl Championship Series and BCS National Championship Game were eliminated in 2014.
The 2021 College Football Playoff National Championship took place at Miami Gardens, Florida's Hard Rock Stadium, on January 11, 2021. The NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) seventh College Football Playoff National Championship game decided a national champion for the 2020 season.
ESPN aired the game, which got underway at 8:15 p.m. EST. It was the final game of the 2020–21 bowl season, aside from the all-star games that were slated to happen later. The game was formally named the 2021 College Football Playoff National Championship, presented by AT&T, as it was sponsored by the telecommunications firm.
The College Football Playoff National Championship is a bracket event that serves as the playoff final between the top four teams in the United States, as decided by a selection committee.
The College Football Playoff National Championship is given out by the College Football Playoff (CFP) organization, not the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The highest tier of collegiate football in which the NCAA bestows championships is called the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
2021 College Football Playoff National Championship Winner
The Alabama Crimson Tide made a stunning comeback by winning the 2021 College Football National Championship after losing in the semifinals the prior season. Before Nick Saban's team destroyed the Ohio State Buckeyes 52-24 in the championship game in front of a pandemic-limited 14,926 people inside Hard Rock Stadium, they crushed the SEC and took the Irish by storm in the Rose Bowl.
Alabama became just the second team in the four-team playoff era to win a national championship while ranking first after LSU's victory in 2020. The Crimson Tide won their 18th national championship, their third in the CFP era, and their unbeaten season was their 25th flawless season in program history.
Alabama has become a household name in college football under Coach Saban. For the Tuscaloosa team, anything less than a national championship is considered catastrophic. Maybe it was the conditions around the CFB season in 2020.
There is a counterargument that the challenges the Alabama team faced in winning their 18th national championship were unlike any other team in the history of the sport. Some will always argue that the 2021 College Football National Championship is tainted by the extenuating circumstances of a global pandemic, eliminating any remote chance of a level playing field.
College Football Playoff Format
The College Football Playoff (CFP) uses a calculated rotation of six notable bowl games, including the Peach Bowl, Rose Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl, Cotton Bowl, and Fiesta Bowl, which are organized in three-year cycles with combinations such as fiesta/peach, orange/cotton, and rose/sugar. The playoff consists of a four-team knockout bracket, with this structure remaining in place until the end of the 2023 season.
The semifinal bowls and four more bowls are included in the New Year's Six, which is customarily held on New Year's Day. Some games originally scheduled for New Year's Eve were rescheduled for December in order to maximize viewership.
The selection committee not only assigns teams to at-large bowls but also seeds the top four teams. The autonomy of the No. 1 seed in selecting its bowl game is intended to prevent a disadvantageous "road" matchup, with no set cap on teams per conference.
2021 College Football Playoff National Championship Venue
Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, was revealed as the seventh College Football Playoff (CFP) National Championship's host venue in August 2018. The semifinals were set for January 1, 2021, with the Sugar Bowl and Rose Bowl serving as the host teams.
The CFP announced on August 5, 2020, that in order to accommodate conferences that had postponed their championship games until mid-December, they would shift the announcement of the final rankings and semifinal pairings from December 6 to December 20. The semifinal matchups were revealed on December 20. In the Rose Bowl, No. 1 Alabama faced No. 4 Notre Dame, while in the Sugar Bowl, No. 2 Clemson faced No. 3 Ohio State.
Amidst the COVID-19 outbreak in California, the Rose Bowl game, which was originally scheduled to take place in Pasadena, California, was shifted to Arlington, Texas. The COVID-19 pandemic in the US had an impact on the 2020 FBS season; therefore, CFP officials had set aside January 18 as a backup date for the championship game. Hard Rock Stadium could only hold 23% of its regular capacity of 14,926 people.
2021 College Football Playoff National Championship Stats
Both Teams Statistical Comparison
| Statistics | Ohio State | Alabama |
| First downs | 19 | 33 |
| Plays–yards | 62–341 | 83–621 |
| Rushes–yards | 29–147 | 38–157 |
| Passing yards | 194 | 464 |
| Passing: comp–att–int | 17–33–0 | 36–45–0 |
| Time of possession | 22:34 | 37:26 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
Ohio State | Passing | Justin Fields | 17/33, 194 yards, 1 TD |
| Rushing | Justin Fields | 6 carries, 67 yards | |
| Receiving | Chris Olave | 8 receptions, 69 yards | |
Alabama | Passing | Mac Jones | 36/45, 464 yards, 5 TD |
| Rushing | Najee Harris | 22 carries, 79 yards, 2 TD | |
| Receiving | DeVonta Smith | 12 receptions, 215 yards, 3 TD |
FAQs
A. The Alabama Crimson Tide won the 2021 College Football National Championship.
A. The championship took place on January 11, 2021, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
A. The College Football Playoff (CFP) organization awards the College Football Playoff National Championship.
A. Alabama won its 18th national championship, securing its third in the CFP era with the 2021 victory.
A. Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, served as the venue for the 2021 College Football Playoff National Championship.
