<P> The 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship was a bowl game that was used to determine a national champion of college football in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision for the 2016 season . The game was played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, on January 9, 2017 . It was the culminating game of the 2016--17 bowl season . </P> <P> The game was played between the winners of two pre-designated bowl games played on December 31, 2016: the Clemson Tigers, who defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes in the Fiesta Bowl, and the Alabama Crimson Tide, who defeated the Washington Huskies in the Peach Bowl . Having met in the previous year's championship game, the resulting title game between Clemson and Alabama became college football's first rematch between #1 and #2 in national championship game history . </P> <P> The Tigers won the game 35--31 on a go - ahead touchdown with one second left, having come back from a 14--0 deficit earlier in the game . Clemson quarterback and Heisman Finalist Deshaun Watson set the record for most passing yards in a championship game with 420, breaking his own record of 405 yards set in the 2016 national championship game . Deshaun Watson and Ben Boulware were named the Offensive and Defensive Most Valuable Players respectively . </P> <P> Competing bids were placed to host the championship game by Tampa, Jacksonville, Minneapolis, San Antonio, San Francisco, and South Florida . Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, was announced as the host site for the third College Football Playoff (CFP) National Championship game on December 17, 2013 . It became the first CFP championship game to not be held at the site of one of the "New Year's Six" bowls . This championship game is part of the third annual CFP, constituted by four teams playing to decide the national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision . The four teams were originally selected by a 13 member - committee . </P>

Who won the national college football championship last year