This year's College Football Playoff brought some welcome new blood to the proceedings. Yes, Alabama was involved once more -- Nick Saban's Crimson Tide have been part of seven of eight CFPs and were the top seed for the fifth time -- but Georgia participated for only the second time, and two schools, Michigan and Cincinnati, made their playoff debuts.
This means that 13 programs have now qualified for the CFP, and five schools are on the list of CFP champions, with Georgia joining Bama (three times), Clemson (twice), Ohio State (once) and LSU (once).
Here is our ranking of all 32 teams that have been part of the mix to date, and because Cincinnati has become the first team from a Group of Five conference to reach the CFP, we'll rank recent history's best non-power conference teams as well.
I derived this list, as I usually do, through a combination of numbers (primarily, my SP+ ratings) and my personal opinions. Start with the stats, then adjust for actual CFP performance and any other criteria that feels relevant. To the list!
No. 32 to No. 17
32. 2015 Michigan State (12-2)
CFP result: Lost to Alabama 38-0
Mark Dantonio's 2015 Spartans are definitive proof that the committee is picking the four "most deserving" teams more than the "best" -- MSU was definitively the former and in no way the latter. The Spartans finished 18th in FPI and 20th in SP+ but beat a dynamite Ohio State team and outlasted unbeaten Iowa to win the Big Ten. Then they did exactly what was expected of them against Alabama in the Cotton Bowl: They lost big.
31. 2018 Notre Dame (12-1)
CFP result: Lost to Clemson 30-3
The Fighting Irish earned their spot in the playoff with increasingly dominant wins over quality Michigan, Stanford and Syracuse teams. Their defense was solid and exciting (10th in defensive SP+), but their offensive limitations were made crystal clear when they had to face Clemson in the Cotton Bowl. The game was tied after one quarter, but it got much, much worse from there.
30. 2019 Oklahoma (12-2)
CFP result: Lost to LSU 63-28
After three years at No. 1, Lincoln Riley's 2019 Sooners ranked only third in offensive SP+, and the defense wasn't good enough to make up for this smidgen of offensive mortality. They rolled to 7-0 but stumbled against Kansas State and eked out four tight wins in their final five games. That was enough to earn the Sooners their fourth CFP appearance in five years, but they got destroyed in the Peach Bowl.
29. 2020 Notre Dame (10-2)
CFP result: Lost to Alabama 31-14
The Irish beat a Trevor Lawrence-less Clemson in overtime and proved physical, mature and adaptable while starting the season 10-0. But in their final two games, against Clemson at full strength in the ACC championship game and Alabama in the Rose Bowl, the Irish got their doors blown off. They were outscored 65-24, and while they managed to keep Alabama within 17 points, it was with a strategy that almost seemed designed to lose by the smallest possible margin.
28. 2016 Ohio State (11-2)
CFP result: Lost to Clemson 31-0
After what might have been Urban Meyer's most talented Ohio State team missed the CFP in 2015, the most offensively limited one made it the next year. The defense was strong enough to limit Deshaun Watson and Clemson to just two touchdowns in the Tigers' first 10 drives in the semifinal, but the Buckeyes' offense, which ranked just 32nd in offensive SP+, got embarrassed and shut out.
27. 2021 Cincinnati (13-1)
CFP result: Lost to Alabama 27-6
Even adjusting for strength of schedule, Luke Fickell's CFP debutants finished fifth in SP+. The Bearcats physically dominated a strong Notre Dame squad in 2021 and earned their playoff spot, and they hemmed in Bryce Young and the Alabama passing attack. The problem: They got gashed by the Bama run game and, more importantly, couldn't even slightly protect quarterback Desmond Ridder.
26. 2015 Oklahoma (11-2)
CFP result: Lost to Clemson 37-17
Bob Stoops' Sooners headed into 2015 with a new offensive coordinator (Lincoln Riley) and a transfer quarterback (Baker Mayfield), and after a disappointing 2014, OU reignited. The Sooners won a loaded Big 12 and were 3.5-point favorites against Clemson in the Orange Bowl. They even took a 17-16 lead into halftime. Clemson shifted into fifth gear in the second half, however, and sent the Sooners home with a 20-point loss.
25. 2014 Florida State (13-1)
CFP result: Lost to Oregon 59-20
The Seminoles returned lots of key figures from their 2013 national title romp, but they had to eke out tight win after tight win -- seven one-score games in all. While the BCS would have given us a Bama-FSU title game that year, the CFP gave the Noles the No. 3 seed and sent them to the Rose Bowl, where a 34-0 Ducks rout ended FSU's 29-game winning streak in stark fashion.
24. 2021 Michigan (12-2)
CFP result: Lost to Georgia 34-11
A loss to Michigan State set Jim Harbaugh's Wolverines back early on, but they took down Ohio State for the first time in a decade, then stomped Iowa to win their first outright Big Ten title since 2003. This was an excellent team and the champion of an excellent conference, but the Wolverines ran into a slight problem in the Orange Bowl: They weren't better than Georgia at anything. That will catch up to you.
23. 2018 Oklahoma (12-2)
CFP result: Lost to Alabama 45-34
OU lost Baker Mayfield but somehow improved offensively. Kyler Murray threw for 4,361 yards and rushed for 1,001, and the Sooners topped 45 points 10 times. The defense, however, was dreck. Lincoln Riley fired coordinator Mike Stoops six games in, but the Sooners allowed 44 points per game over their final six contests and gave up 31 first-half points to Alabama in the Orange Bowl. That was too much for even Murray to overcome.
22. 2017 Clemson (12-2)
CFP result: Lost to Alabama 24-6
You know your program is in great shape when "transition year" means "only making the CFP semis." The Tigers boasted perhaps the best defense of the Dabo Swinney era, but Deshaun Watson was gone, and Trevor Lawrence wouldn't arrive in town for another year. Clemson was too good for the rest of the ACC -- upset loss to Syracuse aside -- but it gained just 188 yards against Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, bowing out slightly earlier than normal.
21. 2016 Washington (12-2)
CFP result: Lost to Alabama 24-7
Chris Petersen's Huskies sent a message by beating a top-20 Stanford squad by 28 points in September, then finished up by felling Colorado by 31 in the Pac-12 championship game. Their elite defense, fourth in defensive SP+ and led by Budda Baker and Greg Gaines, mostly controlled Alabama in the Peach Bowl too; Washington trailed just 10-7 late in the first half before a Ryan Anderson pick-six changed the game.
20. 2020 Clemson (10-2)
CFP result: Lost to Ohio State 49-28
It's hard to properly grade a team that was without its star quarterback for one of its two losses (Trevor Lawrence vs. Notre Dame). But while Lawrence threw for 3,153 yards in just 10 games and Travis Etienne was dangerous as both a receiver and a runner, the Tigers' defense had a bit of a big-play issue at times. And in the semifinal at the Sugar Bowl, they got dominated in the trenches, which made the biggest difference in a 21-point loss to Ohio State.
19. 2017 Oklahoma (12-2)
CFP result: Lost to Georgia 54-48
After a bumpy start, Lincoln Riley's first Sooners squad found its top gear midway through 2017, winning its final six Big 12 games by an average of 23 points, earning Baker Mayfield the Heisman Trophy and surging to a 31-14 first-half lead over Georgia in the Rose Bowl. The Sooners couldn't hold on, though. Georgia came back twice to force overtime, and OU was done in by a blocked field goal and a Sony Michel TD run.
18. 2015 Clemson (14-1)
CFP result: Beat Oklahoma 37-17; lost to Alabama 45-40
Six years ago, Clemson was still an upstart. Quarterback Deshaun Watson was healthy and dominant, and the Tigers began to look the part of a contender. They outlasted Notre Dame in an October monsoon and blew most of a huge lead against North Carolina before surviving. In the CFP, the Tigers surged past Oklahoma in the second half and led Bama before succumbing in maybe the greatest fourth quarter in CFP history.
17. 2014 Oregon (13-2)
CFP result: Beat Florida State 59-20; lost to Ohio State 42-20
Marcus Mariota combined 4,454 passing yards with 770 rushing yards and 57 total touchdowns (and duly won the Heisman), and the Ducks handily ranked first in offensive SP+. They tallied 42-plus points in nine straight games and put up 59 on defending national champion FSU ... but weren't able score over the final 20 minutes of the national title game. An overwhelmed Ducks defense couldn't hold Ohio State back.
The 15 best 'mid-major' teams of the BCS/CFP era
Time for a quick interlude. Cincinnati is the first team from a non-power conference to have a direct shot at the national title since BYU won the crown in 1984. To commemorate the occasion, let's rank the 15 best non-power teams from what we'll call the modern national title era -- 1998 (when the BCS came into existence) to the present.
15. 2003 Miami (Ohio) (13-1). Ben Roethlisberger threw for 4,486 yards and 37 touchdowns, and only a season-opening loss at Iowa blemished a run that included easy wins over Northwestern, Urban Meyer's Bowling Green (twice) and Bobby Petrino's Louisville.
14. 2009 TCU (12-1). After registering their first top-10 finish in 49 years the season before, Gary Patterson's Horned Frogs one-upped themselves, winning at Clemson, stomping ranked BYU and Utah teams and losing only to a Boise State team we'll talk about in a minute.
13. 2006 Boise State (13-0). This wasn't the best Boise State team, but it was the most memorable. Chris Petersen's Broncos smoked Oregon State and Utah early, then upset Oklahoma, via a famous hook-and-ladder and Statue of Liberty play, in the Fiesta Bowl.
12. 1998 Tulane (12-0). Tommy Bowden and Rich Rodriguez crafted one of the most innovative and important offenses of the spread era. Shaun King threw for 3,508 yards and the Green Wave averaged 52 points over their final seven games.
11. 2020 BYU (11-1). Kalani Sitake's Cougars cobbled the best schedule they could on short notice, beat nine teams by at least 17 points, and lost only to an awesome Coastal Carolina team in a cross-country trip arranged hours in advance.
10. 1999 Marshall (13-0). Bob Pruett's Thundering Herd were remarkably balanced, ranking seventh in scoring offense and first in scoring defense. They won at Clemson, rolled to the MAC title (only one win by single digits) and snuffed out BYU 21-3 in the Motor City Bowl.
9. 2020 Cincinnati (9-1). After leaping to 11-3 in 2019, Fickell's Bearcats kept on rising. They beat ranked Army and SMU teams by a combined 66-23, survived late upset bids from UCF and Tulsa, and had Georgia dead to rights in the Peach Bowl before dropping the dagger late.
8. 2017 UCF (13-0). The "national champions" never topped 10th in the CFP rankings because the committee couldn't look past a weak schedule. But the Knights won eight games by at least 26 points and, in the Peach Bowl, took down an Auburn team that had beaten both Alabama and Georgia.
7. 2008 Utah (13-0). It's hard to ask for much more from a mid-major: Kyle Whittingham's Utes beat Michigan and Oregon State, beat an awesome TCU team in a classic, stomped a ranked rival, and finished the year by throttling Saban and Alabama to finish second in the AP poll.
6. 2004 Louisville (11-1). In their last year before joining the Big East, Bobby Petrino's Cardinals averaged 49.8 points per game, took down No. 10 Boise State in a thrilling Liberty Bowl track meet, and lost only when they couldn't hold on to a 17-point second-half lead at No. 3 Miami.
5 and 4. 2010 Boise State (12-1) and 2009 Boise State (14-0). As BSU's quarterback from 2008-11, Kellen Moore lost only to TCU by one point (twice) and to Colin Kaepernick's Nevada Wolf Pack by three. All four of those Boise teams had a claim to be on this list, but we'll focus primarily on the middle two, which went 26-1, walloped Chip Kelly's Oregon team, beat an 11-win Virginia Tech squad and could have made noise in a hypothetical CFP in either 2009 or 2010.
Chris Petersen's teams were impossibly precise on offense, mean as hell in the trenches and always willing to unveil a trick play to keep things fresh. Their lone loss in this span, to Nevada, was one of the best games of the 21st century.
3. 2010 TCU (13-0). The perfect Gary Patterson team. The Horned Frogs held eight opponents to 10 or fewer points and scored 38-plus nine times. They beat a ranked Oregon State team, destroyed No. 6 Utah and wrapped up a No. 2 finish by beating Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl.
2. 2004 Utah (11-0). Urban Meyer's Utes boasted three All-Americans (QB and future No. 1 pick Alex Smith, OL Chris Kemoeatu and DB Morgan Scalley), stomped Texas A&M by 20 points to start the season and finished it by beating Pitt 35-7 in the Fiesta Bowl.
1. 2021 Cincinnati (13-0). The Bearcats don't top this list simply because they managed to make the CFP -- they also make it for being downright awesome. They faced only three SP+ top-50 opponents but beat them by an average of 20 points per game, and they're elite in the offensive backfield, on both lines and throughout the defense.
No. 16 to No. 1
16. 2014 Alabama (12-2)
CFP result: Lost to Ohio State 42-35
The 2014 season saw both the dawn of the CFP era and the beginning of the Great Nick Saban Offensive Evolution. He hired Lane Kiffin to modernize a stale offense, and after an early loss to Ole Miss, the Tide won eight straight to earn the No. 1 seed in the first CFP. They jumped out to a 21-6 lead on Ohio State, but three turnovers and a famous Ezekiel Elliott touchdown run did them in.
15. 2017 Georgia (13-2)
CFP result: Beat Oklahoma 54-48; lost to Alabama 26-23
Kirby Smart's second UGA team all but ended a 37-year national title drought. The Dawgs won at Notre Dame in September, destroyed all comers in the SEC East and avenged their lone loss with a dominant SEC championship game win over Auburn. They outlasted Oklahoma in the greatest game in CFP history and had Alabama all but beaten in the championship game ... until Tua Tagovailoa came onto the field.
14. 2020 Ohio State (7-1)
CFP result: Beat Clemson 49-28; lost to Alabama 52-24
The Buckeyes played only eight games, but they won four by at least 21 points, including a 49-28 victory over Trevor Lawrence and Clemson in the semifinals. They lived up to most of their preseason hype and avenged their 2019 semifinal loss to the Tigers. They also lost the national title game by 28 points. Still, in a year of abbreviated schedules and limited two-deeps, Ohio State was a poster child of sorts, and the Buckeyes looked the part until the final act.
13. 2021 Alabama (13-2)
CFP result: Beat Cincinnati 27-6; lost to Georgia 33-18
Poor Bama, forced to settle for a runner-up finish in a rebuilding year. Nick Saban's Crimson Tide had maybe the best offensive (Bryce Young) and defensive (Will Anderson Jr.) players in the country but didn't enjoy as much depth and experience as normal and were lucky to reach 11-1. But they walloped Georgia in the SEC championship game, then beat Cincinnati with pure physicality to reach the final. They led Georgia in the fourth quarter of the championship game too, but the Dawgs scored the final 20 points.
12. 2016 Alabama (14-1)
CFP result: Beat Washington 24-7; lost to Clemson 35-31
Freshman quarterback Jalen Hurts took over as Alabama's starter. A rebuilding season in Tuscaloosa? Hardly. Hurts won SEC Offensive Player of the Year and the Tide rolled to the CFP final unbeaten, with only one win by single digits. They couldn't finish the job, though. With star running back Bo Scarbrough hurt, the Alabama offense couldn't stay on the field, and an exhausted defense gave up three late scores to fall to Clemson.
11 and 10. 2019 Ohio State (13-1) and 2019 Clemson (14-1)
CFP result: Clemson beat Ohio State 29-23, then lost to LSU 42-25
It was overshadowed by LSU's late-season brilliance, but both the Buckeyes and Tigers were unreal for most of 2019. They went a combined 26-0 in the regular season; 22 of the wins were by at least 24 points, and only one was by single digits. And in the Fiesta Bowl semifinal, they played one of the most even and compelling games in recent college football memory.
Ohio State dominated the early proceedings, going up 16-0 but settling for field goals; that offered Clemson a lifeline, and the Tigers charged back. The second half featured three scores and three lead changes, and after controversy and countless plot twists, Nolan Turner's interception of Justin Fields made the difference. If they'd played 100 times, each team would have won 50.
9. 2015 Alabama (14-1)
CFP result: Beat Michigan State 38-0; beat Clemson 45-40
The second Saban-Kiffin mashup showed plenty of early flaws. New starting quarterback Jake Coker was shaky early on and briefly got benched, and while the defense was mostly solid, it got torched by Ole Miss in an early loss. But the Tide manhandled No. 2 LSU in early November, and Coker caught fire down the stretch. Thanks in part to a classic surprise onside kick, Bama outlasted Clemson in a title-game thriller.
8. 2014 Ohio State (14-1)
CFP result: Beat Alabama 42-35; beat Oregon 42-20
The ultimate "peak when you most need to" team. Ranked 16th in the initial CFP rankings, Ohio State kept getting better and rising down the stretch. Needing a huge statement in the Big Ten championship game, the Buckeyes unleashed the hugest statement, beating Wisconsin 59-0 to eke out the No. 4 CFP seed. They then proceeded to beat Bama with a 28-0 run and take down Oregon with a late 21-0 run. Late-arriving? Nope, just in time.
7. 2018 Alabama (14-1)
CFP result: Beat Oklahoma 45-34; lost to Clemson 44-16
The 2018 Bama squad was just as good as the 2020 Tide on paper but couldn't clear the final hurdle. The Tide destroyed their first 14 opponents by an average of 32 points, and only Georgia in the SEC championship game offered any resistance (though the Dawgs offered quite a bit). The Tide combined Nick Saban's best offense yet with a top-10 defense ... but they laid the ultimate egg in the CFP finale.
6. 2016 Clemson (14-1)
CFP result: Beat Ohio State 31-0; beat Alabama 35-31
Clemson nearly lost to Auburn, Troy and Lamar Jackson's Louisville teams early and did lose to Pitt in mid-November. But as would become a Dabo Swinney custom, the Tigers turned into Angry Clemson after their loss, humiliating South Carolina, keeping Virginia Tech mostly at arm's reach and shutting out Ohio State. Trailing Bama by 10 in the final, the Tigers played a nearly perfect fourth quarter, exhausting the Tide defense and scoring the title-winning touchdown with one second remaining.
5. 2017 Alabama (13-1)
CFP result: Beat Clemson 24-6; beat Georgia 26-23
Bama went scorched-earth during an 11-0 start, but the offense grew rickety late. The Tide barely eked out a CFP bid after a 26-14 loss to Auburn, and they trailed Georgia 13-0 at halftime in the championship game before freshman Tua Tagovailoa tagged in, led Bama on a 20-7 run and -- after the Tide nearly won in regulation -- threw a famous second-and-26 strike to DeVonta Smith to win Nick Saban his sixth national title.
4. 2021 Georgia (14-1)
CFP result: Beat Michigan 34-11; beat Alabama 33-18
Kirby Smart's Bulldogs were far and away the best team of the season's first three months, combining steady and efficient offense with college football's most consistently dominant defense in years. Only Bama scored more than 17 points on the Dawgs, who lost to the Tide in the SEC championship game but rebounded to pen a happy ending and, with help from a game-clinching Kelee Ringo pick-six, win their first national title in 41 years.
3. 2018 Clemson (15-0)
CFP result: Beat Notre Dame 30-3; beat Alabama 44-16
Clemson barely survived September unbeaten, needing a 2-point-conversion stop to escape Texas A&M and a rousing comeback led by backup quarterback Chase Brice to beat Syracuse. But once Trevor Lawrence was healthy and established in the starting lineup, no one had any hope against the Tigers. They beat Florida State by 49, Wake Forest by 60 and Louisville by 61, and they won two CFP games by a combined 74-19. Goodness.
2. 2019 LSU (15-0)
CFP result: Beat Oklahoma 63-28; beat Clemson 42-25
Plenty of coaches have attempted to modernize their offense in the hopes of giving their program a shot in the arm. Ed Orgeron's 2019 team set the bar impossibly high for any future modernizers. With help from an elite skill corps, Joe Burrow threw for 5,671 yards and 60 touchdowns (!!!). Once LSU's defense got healthy late in the year, the Tigers were untouchable, beating Alabama in Tuscaloosa, then winning their last six games by an average of 30 points.
1. 2020 Alabama (13-0)
CFP result: Beat Notre Dame 31-14; beat Ohio State 52-24
The Crimson Tide had the No. 1, 3 and 5 finishers in the Heisman voting. They played one game decided by fewer than 14 points. They bested an SEC-only schedule by an average of 30.2 points per game. Their defense struggled early but allowed only 15 points per game after mid-October. This was the best Nick Saban team ever and quite possibly the best of the 21st century.
Best team ... from the best coach ... with the best dynasty of the 21st century (at the very least)? Sounds like the best team of the CFP era.