PHOENIX, Ariz. — Welcome back to Phoenix!

For a second straight year the Clemson Tigers are back in the Phoenix, Arizona area as they play No.3 Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl on Saturday at the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. For the winner, it means a trip to the national championship game, while the loser goes home and falls just short of reaching its ultimate goal.

The Tigers (12-1) know what it feels like to come this far and fall just short of winning a national championship. It was in this same city last year they lost to No. 1 Alabama in the national championship game.

The battle cry for Clemson all year has been “no regrets.” They did not want this season to end with the same disappointment and heartbreak of last year. All season, they fought and clawed their way to get back to this moment. For another opportunity to bring a national championship back to Clemson. It’s only fitting that their journey back to the national championship game goes through the same city and same stadium where the 2015 season came to such a sad close.

The Road to Glendale and the College Football Playoff has not been an easy one. Seven times this year, the Tigers won games by a touchdown or less. They rallied in the final minutes to beat an upstart Louisville team and the establishment in Florida State.

There was the miracle win over NC State, where they were a missed kick away from losing. Then of course, when they finally did stumble, after so many close calls, in a last-second loss to Pittsburgh, they were helped out as Michigan and Washington lost on the same day. Clemson stayed in the top four and did not let this opportunity go.

They outscored Wake Forest and South Carolina by a combined 91-20 in the final two weeks of the regular season, and then got a last-minute stop from the defense to hold off a pesky Virginia Tech squad to win the program its second straight ACC Championship and clinching a berth in the College Football Playoff.

So, here they are. After all of that, all of the battling and all of the close calls, the Tigers are right where they want to be. They have an opportunity to finish what the 2015 team started. It will not be easy. Ohio State wants to win, too, and its players feel they are just as deserving and hungry as Clemson’s.

But the question is, are the Buckeyes as battled tested, are they as hungry and are they willing to lay everything on the line to make sure they leave Arizona with “no regrets?”