When it comes to college football, LeBron James has made no secret regarding his rooting interests.
But with Ohio State on the outside looking in of the College Football Playoff this season, it may have made sense if the Cleveland Cavaliers superstar was pulling for Alabama on Monday night.
James has no known connection to the Crimson Tide (+aside from both being a part of the Nike family). But as Nick Saban has taken control of the college football world, an interesting trend has emerged when it's come to Alabama's national titles.
Prior to their Monday victory over Georgia in the College Football Playoff championship, the Crimson Tide had won three national championships in the previous six seasons. And in each year that began with Alabama winning a national title dating back to 2012, James has followed by winning a championship of his own.
The trend began in 2012, when the Crimson Tide capped off its 2011 season with a victory over LSU in the BCS National Championship Game. Later that year, James won his first NBA championship as a member of the Miami Heat, who defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in five games in the 2012 NBA Finals.
A year later, Alabama would repeat as national champion, this time beating Notre Dame for its second straight BCS title. James and the Heat would also back-to-back in, doing so in epic fashion, defeating the San Antonio Spurs in seven games in the Finals.
Both the Crimson Tide and James would go title-less for the next two years, until Alabama won the 2016 College Football Playoff with a win over Clemson. James would proceed to help bring Cleveland its championship in 52 years, when the Cavs completed a 3-1 series comeback to top the Golden State Warriors in seven games in the 2016 NBA Finals.
After losing to Clemson in the 2017 College Football Playoff, the Crimson Tide avenged their championship defeat with a 26-23 overtime victory over Georgia on Monday night. Now it's up to the Cavs -- who lost to Golden State in last season's NBA Finals -- to follow suit.
And if there's anything to the James-Crimson Tide connection, all indications are they'll do just that.
