Taking A Look At The College Football Playoff National Championship’s Uniform History

The 2021-22 college football season comes to an end on Monday evening when top-ranked Alabama takes on No. 3 Georgia in the College Football Playoff National Championship at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis (8 p.m. ET on ESPN).

But before the Crimson Tide and Bulldogs take the field in Naptown, we’ve decided to take a look back at the uniform matchups of the last seven title games and preview tonight’s matchup.

2015 – Ohio State 42, Oregon 20

Fourth-ranked Ohio State wore the home version of its 1968 throwback uniforms despite being the lower-ranked team, while No. 2 Oregon opted to wear a white and gray version of the apple green set it wore in the Rose Bowl.

Both uniforms featured a fractal diamond Nike Swoosh on the jersey and pants, which has been a staple of the playoff for Nike and Jordan Brand teams since its inception.

2016 – Alabama 45, Clemson 40

In their first meeting of the College Football Playoff era, No. 1 Clemson wore its orange jersey with orange britches against No. 2 Alabama, which donned its standard road set. This started a five-game winning streak for the team wearing white jerseys in the national title game.

2017 – Clemson 35, Alabama 31

Round 2 between No. 1 Alabama and second-ranked Clemson had both teams outfitted in the opposite uniforms of their first matchup, as the Crimson Tide were in their standard home set while the Tigers wore white jerseys with orange britches. This game also had the inverse result.

2018 – Alabama 26, Georgia 23 (OT)

Despite not winning its conference – let alone its own division – Alabama returned to the national championship for the third straight season. The fourth-ranked Crimson Tide took on SEC champion Georgia, which donned its home uniform by virtue of being the higher-ranked (No. 3) seed.

2019 – Clemson 44, Alabama 16

Aside from the change in venue (Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara rather than Raymond James Stadium in Tampa) the national championship game between No. 1 Alabama and No. 2 Clemson looked the exact same as their previous title game matchup in 2017. It was the same result, too.

2020 – LSU 42, Clemson 24

In a bit of an interesting twist, both No. 1 LSU and No. 2 Clemson donned their home uniform in the 2020 national championship. The Bayou Bengals traditionally wear white at home, which allowed the other Tigers to wear all-orange.

LSU actually received the playoff patch that is typically reserved for the team wearing a colored jersey and wore it on the right shoulder, whereas every other national championship participant during the CFP era has worn It on the left. This was also the first title game in the CFP era to not feature black end zones.

2021 – Alabama 52, Ohio State 24

Top-ranked Alabama ended a two-game losing streak in its home uniform in the national championship, as well as a five-game winning streak by teams wearing white with a blowout of Ohio State.

It was the same uniform matchup as the the 2015 Sugar Bowl, which the Buckeyes won on their way to the inaugural playoff title – albeit with a small change to the logo on the collar.

2021 – Alabama vs. Georgia

This year’s matchup is the inverse of their 2018 meeting and the same as last month’s SEC Championship Game, as the Crimson Tide will be in their standard home uniforms and the Bulldogs will don their standard road set.

Alabama is 1-2 in this uniform in the College Football Playoff National Championship, with losses to Clemson in 2017 and 2019 and a win over Ohio State in 2021. Georgia, meanwhile, has only donned its home uniform at this stage.

Photos via @CFBPlayoff and @usatodaysports on Twitter.