LSU is ranked No. 1 in the country and has been the most talked-about team in college football this season.

Quarterback Joe Burrow won the Heisman Trophy in historic fashion, and he's the main reason LSU is favored to beat Clemson in the College Football Championship on Monday night in New Orleans.

No. 3 Clemson is 14-0 -- like LSU. But unlike LSU, Clemson is also the defending national champion, winner of 29 consecutive games, and looking for its third national championship in four seasons.

Trevor Lawrence is 25-0 as a starter, having taken over early last season. He threw two touchdown passes, ran for more than 100 yards, including a 67-yard touchdown, and drove the Tigers 94 yards to the winning touchdown with less than two minutes remaining in a 29-23 victory against No. 2 Ohio State in the CFP Semifinal at the Fiesta Bowl.

Burrow broke the SEC single-season records for touchdown passes and passing yards.

While the offense is a marquee unit for LSU, Clemson's defense has drawn the most attention during its championship runs, though both teams are obviously complete teams.

Clemson allows the fewest points of any team in the country (11.5 per game) and the second-fewest yards (264.1).

The LSU defense was inconsistent for much of the season and bottomed out when it allowed 402 rushing yards and 614 total yards to Ole Miss in a 58-37 win in mid-November.

But in the four games since, LSU has allowed averages of just 86 rushing yards, 184 passing yards and 16.3 points.

The home-state crowd figures to favor LSU just as the oddsmakers have favored them.

LSU has beaten six teams that were ranked in the Top 10 when they played. Clemson's first game against a Top 10 team came against Ohio State, but it showed its championship pedigree by overcoming a 16-0 deficit to win.