When you hate winning more than you love winning, as fierce competitors such as Nick Saban do, you tend to remember the defeats. When you've won as many big games as Saban has, and only Bear Bryant has more national titles by one, it's easier to rank the losses.
A year ago, Clemson came closer than anyone to beating a Saban team in a national championship game, and it's entirely possible the Tigers could finish the job tonight.
So what if the unprecedented comes to pass and the second time's the charm? What if Dabo Swinney and Clemson take advantage of their second shot and go where Bob Stoops and Oklahoma, Mack Brown and Texas, Les Miles and LSU and Brian Kelly and Notre Dame couldn't?