After a long college football season, we have reached the home stretch of crowning a national champion. As we enter the fourth quarter on Monday night in New Orleans, No. 1 LSU -- behind another strong effort from quarterback Joe Burrow -- leads No. 3 Clemson 35-25. It's been an outstanding game to this point between two heavyweight titans in the game, but sooner rather than later, only one will stand tall as the national champions. 

This season, which began all the way back on Aug. 24, 2019, will finally reach its conclusion on Monday night as the longest in the history of the sport. Both LSU and Clemson had an astonishing 16 days to prepare for the matchup -- an amount of time we haven't seen to get ready for a title game since the BCS era. And with two of the best coaching staffs in the country involved, you can be certain these two squads will be more than ready to battle it out in New Orleans. 

LSU enters carrying all the weight of a "team of destiny." Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow has put together one of the greatest individual seasons we've ever seen from the quarterback position, leading an offense that has put up the most points per game (48.9) of the College Football Playoff era. Everything changed for these Tigers when they were able to finally snap a losing streak to rival Alabama that dates back to the 2011-12 BCS Championship Game, putting that humbling defeat in New Orleans behind them and focusing on the opportunity to return to the Superdome and make things all the way right with a title game win. Ed Orgeron makes a point to shout out "the entire state of Louisiana" when celebrating LSU wins, and there's no doubt that the energy of the entire state will be focused on New Orleans and the opportunity to claim the program's fourth national championship overall and third since 2000. 

Clemson, meanwhile, has the chance to finish back-to-back season as undefeated national champions if they can get past LSU in enemy territory. The Tigers carry the nation's longest winning streak of 29 games into this showdown.

It's almost the perfect showdown on paper of arguably the two best teams in the country battling it out with two of the best coaching staffs on the sidelines for the championship trophy. We can't wait for them both to hit the field in New Orleans.

Here's how you can watch and stream the College Football Playoff National Championship on Monday night. Check out our full slate of national championship expert picks along with keys to the game for LSU and what Clemson needs to do to win.

Viewing information

Date: Monday, Jan. 13 | Time: 8 p.m. ET 
Location: Mercedes-Benz Superdome -- New Orleans, Louisiana
TV: ESPN | Live stream: WatchESPN.com 

Alternate viewing / streaming options 

  • Field Pass -- ESPN2 
  • LSU Hometown Radio -- SEC Network 
  • Clemson Hometown Radio -- ACC Network 
  • Coaches Film Room -- ESPNU 
  • Command Center -- ESPN News 
  • Sounds of the game -- ESPN Classic 
  • DataCenter -- ESPN Goal Line 
  • Additional viewing options on the ESPN App include Refcast, Skycast, All-22 and more

Our team of CBS Sports experts have made picks and predictions for LSU vs. Clemson with each breaking down all angles of the game. Check out the Cover 3 Podcast below for additional LSU-Clemson analysis.