This year's College Football Playoff National Championship Game features two Southeastern Conference teams. The University of Alabama Crimson Tide returns to the game for the first time since 2015, the first year of the CFP four-team playoff system. Alabama won that year's title which served as their fourth title under head coach Nick Saban. The first three titles were earned by winning the then BCS National Championship Games. Alabama holds 16 previous national titles, although, unlike since the invent of the BCS and now the CFP, the selections were not always unanimous. Bama finished the season ranked 4th and ranked 2nd in the SEC West Division.