The four-team playoff era has come to an end. It was a heck of a decade.
In all, 86 different teams spent at least one week ranked by the playoff committee, 25 were ranked in the top four, eight were ranked No. 1 and six won national titles.
But that math only takes us so far. What we really need is a full accounting of the four-team playoff era, a ranking slathered in math but ultimately as arbitrary as anything the committee has given us in the past decade.
Of course, as the committee has taught us, there's no easy calculus for this type of exercise. For example, consider the following comparison.
Team A: 95-33, 49 weeks ranked in the committee poll, seven 10-win seasons
Team B: 94-32, 43 weeks ranked in the committee poll, six 10-win seasons
Who was better?
If you leaned toward Team A, we're sorry. That's Notre Dame, a two-time playoff participant that's never really sniffed a national title.
Team B, on the other hand, is the defending champ. Michigan had an uneven decade, but it ended on a high note.
Edge: Michigan.
For this ranking, we looked at all the hard numbers -- wins, playoff appearances, SP+ (colleague Bill Connelly's tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of efficiency), top-25 finishes and plenty of others -- but ultimately had to compare the results with reasonable expectations and weigh the teams with dizzying highs and troubling lows against the ones with consistent-but-inconsequential success.
The result is the definitive ranking of all 86 teams that have spent at least one week in the committee's top 25 (plus the other Power 5 schools that never caught the committee's eye). We're happy to take questions during our post-release results show, but we're just going to talk in circles and mention "game control" at least 12 times.
Jump to: A's | B's | C's | D's | F's
Valedictorian
1. Alabama Crimson Tide
Record: 127-14
Average SP+: 31.4 (1st)
It's impossible to overstate how much the rest of the college football world has existed in Alabama's orbit during Nick Saban's tenure in Tuscaloosa. Since he arrived in 2007, every national champion but two -- and just one during the playoff era -- has either been Alabama or beaten Alabama on its path to a title. (And the two holdouts -- 2013 FSU and 2022 Georgia -- beat teams that beat Alabama.) The Tide have the most wins, most playoff wins, best SP+, most weeks ranked in the committee's top four and most wins over ranked opponents in the past 10 years -- all by a fairly substantial margin. They're one of two programs ranked in every committee poll of the four-team era, and they've been ranked in every AP poll dating back to 2008. That college football is entering a new era of expanded conferences and a 12-team playoff signifies great change ahead -- but perhaps nothing will shake up the sport's status quo more than Saban's retirement.
A+
2. Clemson Tigers
Record: 119-20
Average SP+: 22.2 (3rd)
The Tigers have two national titles, played for two others, won 10 games nine times and have spent 35 weeks in the committee's top four, trailing only Alabama. And yet, Dabo Swinney still has to deal with angry callers to his radio show questioning whether the program is still relevant. Yes, Clemson has missed the playoff the past three years. And in that span, the Tigers are 30-10 -- only the seventh-best record among Power 5 teams. As slumps go, we should all be so lucky.
3. Ohio State Buckeyes
Record: 115-15
Average SP+: 29.2 (2nd)
In addition to Alabama, Ohio State is the only other team to be ranked in all 60 of the committee's top 25 rankings during the four-team playoff era. The Buckeyes have the second-most wins, are tied for the second-most New Year's Six games played, and have been ranked in all but two AP polls over the past decade. The knock on the Buckeyes, however, is they haven't been able to get over the hump in the biggest games since 2014's surprise national championship behind third-string quarterback Cardale Jones. Clemson, Alabama and (lately) Michigan have all had Ohio State's number since 2014, leaving many Buckeyes fans to wonder what might've been if things had gone just a little differently. But hey, if you're always on the green, eventually a few putts will fall. Just ask the team at No. 4.
4. Georgia Bulldogs
Record: 114-22
Average SP+: 26.2 (3rd)
The four-team playoff era clearly belonged to Alabama. But the team most likely to dominate the next 10 years of college football may well be Georgia, which has won two of the past three national titles and continues to put together dominant recruiting classes year after year. The only thing holding Georgia back from a top-three spot -- and perhaps No. 2 overall -- is a shaky start to the beginning of the four-team era. Although the Bulldogs have finished ranked in the AP top seven in each of the past seven seasons, they finished unranked in two of the first three years of the playoff.
A
5. Michigan Wolverines
Record: 94-32
Average SP+: 21.6 (5th)
At the end of the 2020 season, Michigan was barely a speck on the playoff-era radar. The Wolverines were 54-29 over the previous seven seasons -- fewer wins than Stanford, USC, Florida or Auburn -- and hadn't finished better than sixth in the committee's rankings. They'd lost four straight bowl games and missed the postseason in 2020. Jim Harbaugh was nearly fired. And then -- magic. Michigan beat Ohio State three straight years, made the playoff in 2021 and 2022, then won it all in 2023. What once seemed like a decade wasted in business class ended with Michigan flying the plane.
6. Oklahoma Sooners
Record: 102-29
Average SP+: 20.3 (6th)
Only three teams have spent more weeks ranked in the committee's top 25 during the four-team playoff era than Oklahoma: Alabama, Ohio State and Clemson. Those three teams have a combined 23 New Year's Six or playoff wins and six national titles. Oklahoma, on the other hand, has just two wins in New Year's Six games and an 0-4 mark in the playoff. Whether a move to the SEC forces the Sooners to take the next step toward postseason dominance or results in a step back from the regular-season elite might be one of the biggest questions of the next incarnation of the playoff.
A-
7. LSU Tigers
Record: 90-38
Average SP+: 18.9 (7th)
The Tigers made just one playoff (and played in just three New Year's Six games) during the four-team era, but that 2019 team has a good case as the best single team of the past decade and (perhaps) of all time. Joe Burrow, Justin Jefferson & Co. were utterly dominant, beat seven top-10 teams en route to a title, and won their two playoff games by a combined 52 points. That 2019 was LSU's lone top-10 finish of the playoff era is a blemish on the overall résumé, but spending the decade in the same division as Alabama didn't help much either.
8. Oregon Ducks
Record: 90-38
Average SP+: 13.5 (17th)
Oregon was a part of the first playoff, falling to Ohio State in the title game in 2014. The Ducks have been knocking on the door ever since -- including six seasons of nine or more wins -- but getting back to the promised land has proven difficult. The Ducks have cracked the committee's top 15 in each of the past five years, made five New Year's Six games (plus a national championship), spent nine weeks in the committee's top four (tied with Oklahoma for ninth most), and been ranked in 115 AP polls in the playoff era. The Ducks have as many wins as LSU, as many New Year's Six or playoff games as Michigan and more conference championships than Georgia -- but they don't have a national title.
9. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Record: 95-33
Average SP+: 17.1 (10th)
Notre Dame is one of six teams to spend at least 15 weeks ranked in the committee's top four. The other five all won a national championship. The Irish have seven seasons with 10 wins or more. Every team with more has a national title. Notre Dame has spent 134 weeks ranked in the AP poll. Of the five teams with more, only Oklahoma didn't win a national title. Basically the Irish have been elite during the regular season throughout the four-team playoff era. After that though? They're 0-4 in New Year's Six and playoff games. Of the 19 programs with at least three playoff/New Year's Six games, Notre Dame is the only one without a win.
10. Washington Huskies
Record: 87-38
Average SP+: 15.2 (12th)
Aside from the Jimmy Lake era, it was a pretty darned good decade for the Huskies. Washington had five 10-win seasons, is one of just eight teams to make the playoff more than once, has five top-16 finishes (including three in the top eight) and played in five New Year's Six games. And yet, Washington somehow has only been ranked by the committee as many weeks as ... Auburn.
B+
11. Wisconsin Badgers
Record: 90-38
Average SP+: 18.3 (9th)
No team in college football has a better record over the past 10 years without making the playoff than Wisconsin. The Badgers have five 10-win seasons, played in four conference title games and are one of just 11 teams to have been ranked for at least 100 weeks in the AP poll during the playoff era, and yet they've never finished better than sixth in the committee's final ranking. They're 0-4 in those Big Ten title games, and with the league moving to division-less play in 2024, the road ahead looks tougher than ever for Wisconsin to get over the hump.
12. Utah Utes
Record: 86-40
Average SP+: 14.6 (15th)
The Utes have been ranked in the AP Top 25 every year of the playoff era, cracked the committee's top 15 six times, and finished with nine or more wins seven times (and the 2020 season was largely a loss, as Utah played just five games). The knock is that the Utes have lost their past five bowl games, including two Rose Bowls, and their 17 losses while ranked in the committee's poll are the most of the playoff era. Still, it's impossible to argue with the work Kyle Whittingham has done. Three years before the playoff began, Utah was in the Mountain West. Over the past 10 years, only a handful of Power 5 teams have been better.
13. Penn State Nittany Lions
Record: 88-39
Average SP+: 18.6 (8th)
How good has Penn State been during the playoff era? That might be a matter of perspective. On one hand, SP+ says the Nittany Lions are the eighth-best team of the era. Their winning percentage ranks 12th among Power 5 schools. They've made the New Year's Six in five of 10 years. That's all great. On the other hand, they've spent just one week ranked in the top four, they have fewer wins over ranked opponents than UCLA, Mississippi State or Arizona State, and they're 4-16 against their chief rivals, Michigan and Ohio State. Penn State would seem to be the team that spent the most time knocking on the door of the four-team playoff without actually making it, and therefore should be the team that benefits the most from playoff expansion. But it could also be the Nittany Lions have benefited already from a weak Big Ten outside of the top two teams, and there's a clear line of demarcation between Michigan and Ohio State and everyone else.
14. Oklahoma State Cowboys
Record: 89-41
Average SP+: 12.2 (19th)
Are the Cowboys the most underappreciated program of the four-team playoff era? They're one of just nine teams to post a winning record every season of the playoff era. They have a better average SP+ than USC, have spent as many weeks ranked by the committee as Michigan and have more wins against ranked opponents than Notre Dame. And yet, Oklahoma State has never been ranked in the committee's top four, never really sniffed a playoff berth and has just two trips to New Year's Six games. Mike Gundy's program is like Weezer -- nobody's favorite band, but their discography is chock full of bangers.
15. TCU Horned Frogs
Record: 81-46
Average SP+: 11.7 (22nd)
They're probably not the first team you think of as a playoff-era behemoth, but the Horned Frogs have as many wins vs. ranked teams as Michigan, as many 10-win seasons as LSU, more playoff wins than Oklahoma and more weeks ranked in the committee's top four than Washington. If not for the committee's decision to sidestep the thorny question of who was the Big 12's true champion in 2014, the Horned Frogs might've been among the most elite company in college football, as one of the rare programs to appear in multiple playoffs (only eight teams have). Yes, TCU also has four losing seasons in the playoff era, but the good has been very good, and given the program's inherent limitations compared with the blue bloods, it's been an incredibly impressive run.
16. Iowa Hawkeyes
Record: 88-40
Average SP+: 15.0 (14th)
The Hawkeyes have finished with a winning record every season of the playoff era, been ranked in more than half the committee's top 25s, had four 10-win seasons and played for three Big Ten titles. They've done all that in spite of posting the 74th-ranked offensive SP+ and averaging just 25.4 points per game (good for 104th) in that span. Honest question: What if firing Brian Ferentz somehow disrupts the delicate equilibrium that has made this magic work?
B
17. Florida State Seminoles
Record: 82-44
Average SP+: 9.6 (28th)
It's funny, Florida State had five 10-win seasons during the four-team playoff era, but if you ask most FSU fans, the past decade was largely one filled with misery. It's easy to forget the Noles were 13-0 entering the first playoff before losing to Oregon amid a comedy of errors (and turnovers) in the second half of the Rose Bowl. But we'll die on this hill: If Dalvin Cook doesn't fumble after a long run for a first down early in the third quarter, Florida State would've come back to win that game. And yet, somehow that's not even close to the most painful playoff moment for the good folks in Tallahassee.
18. Florida Gators
Record: 76-50
Average SP+: 14.6 (16th)
Kids, you won't believe this, but there was a time, not all that long ago, when the Florida Gators were considered a genuine power in the college football world. Indeed, on Dec. 5, 2020, the Gators beat Tennessee to move to 8-1 on the season, jumping all the way to No. 3 in the AP poll. A week later, a guy threw a shoe, Florida lost to LSU, and since then, everything is pain. Before the shoe throw, Florida was 45-26 in the playoff era, with three top-15 finishes, three 10-win seasons and two New Year's Six bowl wins. After the shoe throw, the Gators are 17-24 and just 10-23 against Power 5 foes. The lesson here? Footwear is not a projectile.
19. Ole Miss Rebels
Record: 73-50
Average SP+: 12.7 (18th)
The Rebels have played in four New Year's Six games. Of teams with more, only Penn State has failed to make the playoff. The Rebels are one of just 25 teams to be ranked in the top four by the committee at any point. They've had three 10-win seasons, spent more weeks in the AP Top 25 than Washington, Florida State or Iowa, and have had 32 players drafted so far, more than Oregon, FSU or Texas. That Saban has retired and the playoff is expanding might well mean the next phase of college football could be even better for Ole Miss.
20. Texas Longhorns
Record: 73-53
Average SP+: 11.5 (23rd)
21. Cincinnati Bearcats
Record: 80-46
Average SP+: 3.5 (54th)
22. Michigan State Spartans
Record: 72-50
Average SP+: 8.1 (33rd)
Texas, Cincinnati and Michigan State all have one trait that qualifies them for elite status over the past decade: They've all made the playoff -- Cincinnati being the lone Group of 5 rep of the decade. Sure, those seasons were surrounded by a decent amount of mediocrity (would you believe the playoff era started with Tommy Tuberville coaching the Bearcats and ended with him in the Senate?), but only 15 teams have reached the rarified air of the playoff, and these three account for 20% of them.
23. Baylor Bears
Record: 70-56
Average SP+: 8.5 (32nd)
Baylor has had four 10-win seasons in the playoff era under three different coaches, which is incredibly impressive. On the other hand, the Bears have also had a one-win, two-win and three-win season, which is ... less impressive. They've had three seasons ranked in the top seven in the committee's final top 25, cracked the AP top 25 in seven of the past 11 years, and finished in the top seven twice. Of course, for all that success, the Bears never made the playoff, which also feels like a disappointment.
24. Kansas State
Record: 76-51
Average SP+: 11.3 (25th)
The Wildcats have inked just nine total blue-chip prospects in the playoff era, and until 2022, they'd never landed more than one per class. And yet, they've finished with a winning record seven times, won a Big 12 title, played in a New Year's Six game and spent 21 weeks ranked in the committee poll -- more than Texas A&M (133 blue-chip signees), Tennessee (100) or Miami (98).
25. UCF Knights
Record: 80-47
Average SP+: 5.4 (45th)
Six seasons of nine or more wins, two New Year's Six appearances and, depending on who you ask, one national championship. Not too shabby for a plucky upstart like UCF. Sure, we're ranking the Knights only 24th, but that doesn't mean they can't claim the No. 1 spot and have a parade anyway.
26. USC Trojans
Record: 79-45
Average SP+: 11.4 (24th)
The past decade probably feels more problematic for USC than it actually was. The Trojans have been mostly good, winning 10 games twice, playing in three New Year's Six games and getting four cracks at a conference title (winning one). But the hapless coaching situation since Lane Kiffin was ditched on the tarmac at LAX mixed with the defensive woes of the past two seasons has equated to a pretty sizable level of malaise at Southern Cal and at least one occasion in which Caleb Williams was left in tears. (USC fans were left in tears far more often.)
27. Boise State Broncos
Record: 94-34
Average SP+: 7.1 (35th)
By virtually any metric, Boise State has been the class of the Group of 5 during the playoff era, winning the second-most games (just one shy of App State), posting the best average SP+, posting six 10-win seasons (only Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, Georgia, Oklahoma and Notre Dame had more), spent the most weeks ranked in the committee poll (20, tied with Cincinnati), and playing for the Mountain West title seven times (winning four). But despite all that immense success, the Broncos managed just one New Year's Six game. With Cincinnati, Houston, UCF and SMU all off to Power 4 leagues now, however, the expanded playoff might provide a huge opportunity for Boise State to climb back into the national consciousness.
28. Appalachian State Mountaineers
Record: 95-35
Average SP+: 5.0 (48th)
Fun fact: There are 11 programs that have been .500 or better in every season of the playoff era. App State is one of them. The Mountaineers haven't come particularly close to landing a Group of 5 slot in the New Year's Six, but they've won more games than any other team that's spent the bulk of that time outside the Power 5 (and the eighth most overall), have a better average SP+ than any but Boise State and BYU, and only Boise State has had more 10-win seasons than App's five. Oh, and one more fun fact: App State is 5-0 as a committee-ranked team. That's the most games without a loss of any team in the country.
29. Memphis Tigers
Record: 88-41
Average SP+: 6.9 (38th)
Memphis has been remarkably consistent during the playoff era, finishing .500 or better every season (one of just 11 teams to do so). It's one of eight Group of 5 schools to play in a New Year's Six bowl. It's had four 10-win seasons. It's spent 15 weeks in the committee's top 25, trailing only Boise State and Cincinnati among Group of 5 schools. What's really remarkable, however, is the Tigers' success correlates exactly with the start of the four-team playoff era. In the six years that preceded the playoff, Memphis was just 12-48. The job Justin Fuente and, later, Mike Norvell did in rebuilding the program is something special.
B-
30. Mississippi State Bulldogs
Record: 73-54
Average SP+: 12.0 (20th)
Want to win a bar bet? Ask the average fan who the first team ranked atop the college football playoff committee's top 25 was. After they whiff with Georgia, Alabama or Ohio State, let them know it was actually Mississippi State and bask in your superior intellect. Indeed, the Bulldogs have spent five weeks ranked in the committee's top four -- more than any other team not to make the playoff. Heck, Mississippi State's five weeks as a top-four team are more than Iowa, Penn State, Wisconsin and Texas combined. The end result though: Just one New Year's Six game (a loss).
31. Tennessee Volunteers
Record: 72-53
Average SP+: 11.8 (21st)
In fairness, Butch Jones took the Vols to three straight bowl games to open the playoff era, winning nine games in both 2015 and 2016 before earning the coveted championship of life. But it wasn't until Josh Heupel arrived in 2021 that things finally blossomed in Knoxville, with the Vols going 11-2 in 2022 and finishing in the AP top 20 in each of the past two years. And here's another fun fact: Tennessee is one of just eight teams to hold the No. 1 spot in a committee poll. Six of the others won a national title (plus Mississippi State).
32. Texas A&M Aggies
Record: 77-48
Average SP+: 15.8 (11th)
Every Power 5 team with a better winning percentage in the playoff era but Iowa has made multiple New Year's Six games. A&M made just one: the 2020 Orange Bowl. That season was the highlight of the Jimbo Fisher era (unless, of course, you're Fisher, in which case being handed a $75 million check to go away was probably the highlight), and despite 77 wins over the past 10 years, the Aggies didn't have a single 10-win campaign.
33. NC State Wolfpack
Record: 78-49
Average SP+: 8.0 (34th)
Every program with more wins in the playoff era has at least two 10-win campaigns. NC State has topped out at nine (four times) and has just one 10-win season in its history. The Wolfpack have been both incredibly successful in the playoff era (nine winning seasons) and incredibly frustrating (zero finishes better than 20th in the AP poll, four straight bowl losses). Of the 21 Power 5 teams to win at least 60% of their games during the playoff era, the Wolfpack are the only one not to play in a New Year's Six bowl.
34. Auburn Tigers
Record: 73-55
Average SP+: 15.4 (12th)
If Oklahoma State is the most underappreciated team of the playoff era, Auburn has a good case as the most overrated one. There are 24 schools that have played at least 20 games as a committee-ranked team. The other 23 have a combined record of 573-226 (.717) in those games. Auburn is 10-15. In four different seasons over the past decade, Auburn has cracked the AP top 12 only to finish the year unranked (and it was No. 22 and No. 24 in two other seasons). But at least the Tigers never gotten blown out at home by New Mexico State. Oh, what's that? Just this past year? Yikes.
35. Kentucky Wildcats
Record: 71-55
Average SP+: 9.5 (29th)
Big Blue has gone to eight straight bowl games under Mark Stoops, which is a huge accomplishment at a place some fools might call a basketball school. The Wildcats have cracked three of the committee's top 25s in three different seasons, won 10 games twice and annually generate enough buzz before losing to Georgia that people actually get excited for that game.
36. Miami Hurricanes
Record: 73-53
Average SP+: 9.1 (31st)
37. Louisville Cardinals
Record: 72-56
Average SP+: 7.0 (37th)
38. Pitt Panthers
Record: 71-57
Average SP+: 5.9 (44th)
The ACC's second tier is... fine. Miami has actually produced the ninth-most NFL draft picks of the playoff era thus far (41, more than Notre Dame, USC or Florida State). Louisville had Lamar Jackson. Pitt won the ACC in 2021. They've combined for 20 winning seasons and 38 weeks in the committee's top 25. It's all... fine.
39. BYU Cougars
Record: 78-50
Average SP+: 9.3 (30th)
40. Houston Cougars
Record: 76-48
Average SP+: 4.0 (53rd)
41. San Diego State Aztecs
Record: 83-44
Average SP+: 1.7 (59th)
42. Air Force Falcons
Record: 81-41
Average SP+: 3.4 (55th)
SP+ suggests BYU is actually a good bit better than the rest of this group, but each one has its strengths. Air Force and San Diego State have each had five 10-win seasons in the playoff era. Houston is one of just eight Group of 5 teams to make a New Year's Six game (and one of just four to win). And, of course, BYU's average SP+ of 9.3 ranks it in the same ballpark as Florida State, Baylor and Michigan State.
C+
43. Minnesota Golden Gophers
Record: 73-50
Average SP+: 11.0 (26th)
44. West Virginia Mountaineers
Record: 71-53
Average SP+: 7.1 (36th)
There are 10 FBS teams with 70 wins during the playoff era that have not so much as played for a conference championship. Two are BYU and Army, which spent most or all of that time as an independent. One is NC State, which was stuck behind juggernauts in Florida State and Clemson in its own division. Five others -- Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Texas A&M, Tennessee and Kentucky -- have been relegated to the second tier of the mighty SEC, chasing monsters Alabama and Georgia. Then there's the strange cases of Minnesota and West Virginia -- two programs with moderate success and a path to a conference title game unencumbered by a dominant team ahead of them, but they simply couldn't get it done. There are plenty of schools that would happily trade places in favor of the Gophers' and Mountaineers' résumés (16 bowl games, six seasons appearing in the committee's top 25, six campaigns with nine or more wins combined), but fans of these two programs are probably wishing for a little more in the next phase of the playoff.
45. North Carolina Tar Heels
Record: 68-60
Average SP+: 6.5 (39th)
North Carolina has had some genuine highs over the past decade. The Heels were a fluky onside kick away from possibly beating Clemson for the ACC title in 2015, a win that might've opened the door to a playoff appearance. They played in the 2020 Orange Bowl, narrowly losing to Texas A&M after the bulk of the team's top players opted out. They've been ranked at some point during seven of the 10 seasons of the four-team playoff era, made eight bowls and spent 19 weeks ranked by the committee -- one more than Tennessee. But all of that follows a trend in the playoff era for the Heels: When the mountaintop is in sight, they fall off a cliff. UNC is 1-5 when ranked in the AP top 10 over the past decade, 0-4 when in the committee's top 13, and 1-9 in conference championship and bowl games.
46. Stanford Cardinal
Record: 65-56
Average SP+: 4.9 (49th)
47. Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Record: 63-61
Average SP+: 2.4 (57th)
48. Northwestern Wildcats
Record: 63-60
Average SP+: 2.0 (58th)
All three schools traditionally are more competitive in the classroom than on the football field, but they've combined for five 10-win seasons, 43 weeks in the committee's top 25, 31 wins against ranked foes, 18 seasons above .500 and five conference championship games over the past decade. Sure, there have been some lows, too, but even rock bottom brought us the most important meme of the playoff era during Wake's 0-0 game against Virginia Tech.
49. Missouri Tigers
Record: 69-56
Average SP+: 10.2 (27th)
50. Virginia Tech Hokies
Record: 68-59
Average SP+: 6.4 (41st)
51. Washington State Cougars
Record: 66-53
Average SP+: 6.3 (41st)
Missouri bookended the playoff with a top-25 ranking -- No. 14 in 2014 and No. 8 in 2023. In between was a whole lot of meh. Virginia Tech beat the national champion in 2014, won 10 games in 2016 and nine in 2017, and yet none of it really resonates. Washington State was fun under Mike Leach, but an 11-2 season and a No. 10 ranking in 2018 was the only real highlight. In other words, if you're not a fan of these teams, you probably remember very little of the last 10 years.
52. UCLA Bruins
Record: 63-57
Average SP+: 5.4 (45th)
The Bruins peaked in 2014, cracking the committee's top 10 and finishing 10-3. On the other hand, if Ohio State wins it all in 2024, UCLA will get partial credit for lending out its head coach to serve as the Buckeyes' OC.
53. Duke Blue Devils
Record: 63-62
Average SP+: 2.8 (56th)
Duke won nine games twice, but didn't finish in the AP Top 25 at all during the four-team playoff era.
54. Iowa State Cyclones
Record: 58-67
Average SP+: 6.0 (43rd)
From 2000 through 2016, Iowa State never won more than seven games in a season. Then Matt Campbell arrived, and things began to change. The Cyclones went 8-5 in both 2017 and 2018 and, amid the COVID-19 season of 2020, posted a 9-3 record that included a win in the Fiesta Bowl. The highs haven't been exactly spectacular. Iowa State has the third-worst record of any team to win a New Year's Six bowl. But the progress the program has made amid some tough obstacles -- ranked by the committee in four different seasons, a top-10 finish, a first-round draft pick for the first time since "The Exorcist" was in theaters, Brock Purdy! -- has been undeniable. Relative to expectations, the playoff era has been a rousing success for the Cyclones.
55. Liberty Flames
Record: 53-23
Average SP+: -4.8 (83rd)
The Flames have only been an FBS program for six years, but Jamey Chadwell helped them sneak into the New Year's Six in 2023 thanks to a 13-0 regular season (that, for what it's worth, came against the worst-rated schedule in the country). Still, Liberty has never finished below .500 in his FBS history and has won 10 games twice and finished ranked in the AP Top 25 both times. That's more AP Top-25 finishes than Indiana has in the past 35 years.
56. Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Record: 75-52
Average SP+: -4.1 (77th)
From 2019-2021, the Ragin' Cajuns were a remarkable 34-5, winning all three bowl games and ending the 2020 and 2021 seasons ranked in the AP top 16. It was a ridiculous run of success -- but also influenced a bit by luck. Louisiana was 14-2 in one-possession games -- more one-score wins than any other team in the country in that stretch. On the other hand, the Cajuns had some bad luck when it came to earning a New Year's Six bid, losing out to Memphis and Cincinnati (twice).
57. Coastal Carolina Chanticleers
Record: 52-35
Average SP+: -4.2 (78th)
Ah, the 2020 season, when stadiums were empty and Coastal Carolina's helmets were filled with mullets. The Chanticleers climbed into the AP Top 10, finished the year ranked 14th, and were actually 12th in the committee's final poll, which in most years would've been more than enough for a New Year's Six game. Instead, they landed in the Cure Bowl, where they lost to Liberty, finishing 11-1 on the season. Still, the Chants' three-year run from 2020 through 2022 was remarkable, with the team winning 31 games and landing in the AP poll at some point each year.
58. Toledo Rockets
Record: 83-41
Average SP+: -1.2 (68th)
59. Marshall Thundering Herd
Record: 80-47
Average SP+: -1.4 (69th)
60. Fresno State Bulldogs
Record: 68-56
Average SP+: -3.6 (76th)
61. Troy Trojans
Record: 76-50
Average SP+: -3.4 (75th)
Toledo, Marshall, Fresno State and Troy have all had excellent runs, including 14 10-win seasons between them during the playoff era. But they've never cracked the committee's top 20, with the foursome only hanging around the bottom of the rankings for a handful of weeks each, and have finished the year ranked by the AP just four times total (Marshall was 23rd in 2014, Fresno State was 18th in 2018 and 24th in 2022, and Troy was 19th in 2022). They essentially account for the Tier 2 of the Group of 5 over the past decade.
62. Arizona State Sun Devils
Record: 59-59
Average SP+: 4.8 (50th)
Want a truly remarkable stat? Arizona State has 14 wins vs. AP-ranked foes (at game time) during the playoff era. That's more than Penn State (13), Florida State (13), Iowa (12) or Florida (12). In fact, wins vs. ranked teams actually account for nearly a quarter of the Sun Devils' total wins in the playoff era.
63. Boston College Eagles
Record: 59-65
Average SP+: 0.0 (64th)
Sure, Dean Wormer believes that 0.0 is no way to go through life, but it's a testament to Boston College's remarkable consistency that the Eagles have maintained near perfect mediocrity during the playoff era. There's the 0.0 SP+ ranking, but look at the win totals, too: 7, 7, 3, 7, 7, 7, 6, 6, 6, 3, 7. Even the 2015 season in which the Eagles were 3-9 was remarkable in its own right. They finished 121st nationally in scoring offense, and fourth nationally in scoring defense. They were even more Iowa than Iowa!
64. Navy Midshipmen
Record: 65-60
Average SP+: -1.6 (71st)
Three teams have finished ranked in the committee's top 25 three different times in the playoff era: Boise State, Cincinnati and ... Navy! It's easy to forget given the Midshipmen's recent struggles (16-30 over the past four years), but they'd been one of the best teams outside the Power 5 for the first six years of the playoff, winning 49 games in six seasons and cracking the AP Top 25 four times. If not for blowing a 20-7 lead to Memphis in a September game in 2019, the Mids probably would've played in a New Year's Six game that season. Instead, it was the Tigers who made the Cotton Bowl, and Ken Niumatalolo was fired three years later.
65. Western Michigan Broncos
Record: 70-51
Average SP+: -6.7 (90th)
Here are the Group of 5's representatives in the New Year's Six during the playoff era: Liberty, Memphis, Cincinnati, Tulane, Houston, Boise State and UCF. Oh, and yes, Western Michigan. The Broncos' 13-1 campaign in 2016 -- their boat rowed by PJ Fleck -- feels somewhat forgettable now, given that it's their lone seasons with more than eight wins in the past 14 years (and their No. 14 ranking in the final AP poll was the only time the program has ever finished a year ranked). As the sport moves to a 12-team playoff -- and a consolidation of blue bloods -- it's perhaps worth noting too that the Group of 5 has held its own in big bowls. Those teams finished 4-6 in the playoff era, but three losses were by a touchdown or less, and schools outside the Power 5 are 8-8 in BCS/New Year's Six games dating back to 2004.
66. SMU Mustangs
Record: 63-60
Average SP+: -5.0 (84th)
The Mustangs are moving to the ACC, and everyone's paying players like it's Dallas in 1983 again. What a time to be alive.
67. Utah State Aggies
Record: 67-57
Average SP+: -4.8 (83rd)
The Aggies have three 10-win seasons in the playoff era, all of which ended with an AP Top-25 ranking. In 2018, they cracked the committee's poll, too, for two weeks. But the recent track record is a bit less encouraging. Aside from the remarkable 11-3 campaign in 2021, Utah State has finished with a losing record in three of the last four years.
68. UTSA Roadrunners
Record: 65-60
Average SP+: -8.9 (100th)
The house that Frank Harris built. When UTSA found its QB in Harris, the program took off, winning 32 games in the past three seasons, including a top-25 ranking in the committee's final poll in 2022. Sure, the record -- along with five bowl appearances in the playoff era -- was built, in part, on pretty soft schedules (Liberty is the only other program to earn a committee ranking at any point whose combined opponent win percentage is below .500), but wins are wins, and UTSA has more of them in the past decade than UCLA, Tulane, South Carolina or Nebraska.
C-
69. South Carolina Gamecocks
Record: 58-66
Average SP+: 6.2 (42nd)
South Carolina topped out at eight wins (in 2022) but did manage to finish 23rd. After the Will Muschamp era, that felt like a big success.
70. Tulane Green Wave
Record: 60-66
Average SP+: -5.2 (85th)
71. Arizona Wildcats
Record: 52-66
Average SP+: -1.4 (69th)
72. Oregon State Beavers
Record: 46-72
Average SP+: -3.1 (74th)
Safe to say the playoff era didn't get off to a great start for these guys. From 2014 through 2021, Tulane, Oregon State and Arizona were a combined 102-181, with none winning more than 40% of its games. Only Arizona (10-4 in 2014) had a brief moment of success. Things were bleak. Then, in 2022, the lights came on. Willie Fritz broke through at Tulane and earned a New Year's Six bid. Jonathan Smith carried Oregon State to its first 10-win campaign since 2006. And while it took until 2023 for Jedd Fisch to truly break through at Arizona, the Wildcats did finish 2022 by winning two of three, including toppling No. 9 UCLA. Over the past two seasons, the trio is a combined 56-23 (.709) with three top-20 finishes (one each). Of course, if the winning ways are going to carry over to the next era of the playoff, all three will need to do it with new head coaches. Fritz left for Houston, Fisch to Washington and Smith to Michigan State at the end of the 2023 campaign.
D+
73. Arkansas Razorbacks
Record: 53-70
Average SP+: 4.8 (51st)
74. Nebraska Cornhuskers
Record: 52-67
Average SP+: 5.4 (47th)
Arkansas had a nine-win season in 2021 and actually made it all the way to No. 8 in the AP poll, but the Razorbacks finished that year No. 23, their lone top-25 season. Also there was the whole Chad Morris dalliance, which was highlighted by home losses to North Texas, San Jose State and Western Kentucky. And then there's Nebraska, which actually had a couple of good years early in the playoff era, winning nine in 2014 and 2016, despite finishing unranked both times. What happened after that? Unfortunately, no records exist and we're never to speak of this era again.
75. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Record: 56-66
Average SP+: -0.3 (65th)
Thirty teams have won a playoff or New Year's Six game. Twenty-nine of them have a better record during the past decade than Georgia Tech. But, thanks to the Yellow Jackets' 11-3 campaign and Orange Bowl win in 2014, they've got something Auburn, Miami, Utah, Iowa, Kansas State and Mississippi State (who lost that Orange Bowl to Georgia Tech) don't.
76. Virginia Cavaliers
Record: 51-69
Average SP+: -0.7 (66th)
Virginia's 2019 season included three weeks in which it was ranked in the committee's poll, though never higher than 23rd. It lost all three games. That makes the Hoos the only team with at least three games as a committee-ranked team without a win.
77. Purdue Boilermakers
Record: 48-71
Average SP+: 0.7 (63rd)
The Boilermakers knocked off No. 5 Michigan State 40-29 on Nov. 6, 2021, and, for four glorious days afterward, they were ranked in the committee's top 25 (at No. 19). Then they got smoked by Ohio State, and that was that. It was the lone week in the playoff era in which Purdue made the cut, putting it next to Dexy's Midnight Runners, Right Said Fred and Chumbawumba in the pantheon of truly great one-hit wonders.
78. Temple Owls
Record: 59-63
Average SP+: -6.2 (88th)
It seems like a lifetime ago now, but Temple once went to five straight bowl games, including back-to-back 10-win seasons under Matt Rhule in 2015 and 2016. But Rod Carey went 1-6 in his second season in 2020, as the program was decimated by COVID-19, and the wheels came off after that. The Owls have won just 10 games in their past four seasons.
79. Syracuse Orange
Record: 49-73
Average SP+: -1.8 (72nd)
The Orange have had just two winning seasons in the playoff era -- a 7-6 mark in 2022 and a miraculous 10-3 campaign in 2018 in which they were a breath away from knocking off eventual champion Clemson in Death Valley. The Orange climbed as high as 12th in the committee's poll in 2018, matching that in the AP poll, too -- their best AP ranking since 1998. If that trend holds, look for Syracuse to be a real contender for the 12-team playoff in 2038.
80. Indiana Hoosiers
Record: 49-70
Average SP+: 1.4 (61st)
Step into our time machine and recall the 2020 COVID season: Michael Penix led Indiana to a 6-2 record with wins over Penn State, Michigan, Michigan State and Wisconsin. Even the Hoosiers' two losses that season came by just a touchdown apiece, to playoff-bound Ohio State and a decent Ole Miss. In 2019, Indiana climbed into the AP top 25 (at No. 24) for the first time in 25 years, and then during that ridiculous 2020 run, the Hoosiers made it all the way to No. 7 in the AP poll (their best since 1967) and No. 11 in the committee's rankings. Alas, Penix transferred to Washington, the wheels came off, Indiana won just nine games in the next three years, and Tom Allen was fired. Some things are just too beautiful for this world.
81. Illinois Fighting Illini
Record: 46-73
Average SP+: -1.0 (67th)
The playoff era came with some breathtaking highs (Lovie Smith's beard) and some truly ugly lows (Tim Beckman's player mistreatment) and exactly two weeks as a committee top-25 team. Those came in 2022, when the Illini opened the season 7-1 and climbed as high as No. 14 in the AP poll before dropping four of five to end the year. It still turned out to be the Illini's lone season with a record better than .500.
D
82. Colorado Buffaloes
Record: 44-73
Average SP+: -4.6 (81st)
In 2016, Coach Prime led Colorado to a shockingly impressive 10-4 record and a No. 10 ranking in the committee's final poll of the year. Oh, wait, we're being told that was actually Mike MacIntyre who did that. Strange, because we could've sworn Prime was the guy who took Colorado to unprecedented heights, but according to the internet, he was just 4-8 last year -- a record McIntyre topped three times. Another fun fact: Karl Dorrell spent more weeks in the committee's rankings (1) in his first season as Colorado's coach than Coach Prime did in his 2023 debut with the Buffs.
83. Tulsa Golden Hurricane
Record: 49-71
Average SP+: -7.2 (93rd)
Tulsa's best year of the playoff era came in 2016, when the Golden Hurricane went 10-3, with tailbacks D'Angelo Brewer and James Flanders combining for more than 3,000 yards on the ground. But it was the fluky 2020 COVID season that produced Tulsa's lone moments in the committee's top 25. Tulsa opened the year 6-1 before losing to Cincinnati in the AAC title game and Mississippi State in the Armed Forces Bowl. It was still good enough to spend five weeks in the committee's rankings, which is five more than Western Kentucky -- a team that won 31 more games in the four-team era.
84. Kansas Jayhawks
Record: 29-90
Average SP+: -12.3 (109th)
Through the first eight years of the playoff, Kansas was 14-79 -- the worst record in FBS -- and was outscored by an average of 20 points per game. The Jayhawks won just seven games against Power 5 competition, and a sizable percentage of those were vs. Texas, which we're convinced was really just part of some avant garde comedy routine like when Joaquin Phoenix said he was giving up acting to start a rap career. But Lance Leipold has resurrected the Jayhawks, who've made bowl games in each of the past two years and, in 2023, actually spent three weeks ranked in the committee's top 25. The overall math still has Kansas near the bottom of our rankings, but we strongly advocate for Leipold to win a Nobel Prize for his work bringing this program back to life.
85. San José State Spartans
Record: 47-72
Average SP+: -11.5 (107th)
The 2020 COVID season was a strange year for everyone in college football. Michigan was awful and nearly fired Jim Harbaugh. Indiana was good and gave Tom Allen an extension. Future civilizations will look back and marvel at the lunacy of it all. Amid all the unlikely outcomes from that season, it might be easy to overlook San Jose State's 7-1 record, which was good enough to land the Spartans in the committee's top 25 for the final two weeks of the year. During non-COVID seasons in the playoff era, SJSU was just 40-71, but 2020 still counts and it was all good enough for Brent Brennan to land the Arizona job this offseason.
86. East Carolina Pirates
Record: 46-73
Average SP+: -8.0 (97th)
On Oct. 23, 2014, ECU beat UConn 31-21 to move to 6-1 on the season. Three days later, the Pirates checked in at No. 23 in the committee's first top 25. They then lost four of six to end the season, went 5-7 in 2015, fired Ruffin McNeill and won just 16 games over the next five years, and after poking their heads above water in 2021 and 2022, reverted to 2-10 last year. But hey, they were ranked once, and no one can take that away.
F
87. Texas Tech Red Raiders
Record: 57-66
Average SP+: 4.7 (52nd)
88. Cal Golden Bears
Record: 54-62 Average SP+: 1.2 (62nd)
89. Maryland Terrapins
Record: 53-65
Average SP+: 1.7 (60th)
90. Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Record: 40-80
Average SP+: -6.8 (91st)
91. Vanderbilt Commodores
Record: 36-83
Average SP+: -5.6 (86th)
This ranking was essentially a pass/fail class. Make the committee's top 25 even once, you passed. Miss it every week, you failed. There are varying degrees of failure here, however. Texas Tech, Cal and Maryland have all at least flirted with success. Cal actually spent seven weeks ranked in the AP poll, and Texas Tech had Patrick Mahomes. But in all five cases, they've failed to ever crack the committee's top 25, making them ineligible for our overall list and therefore given a failing grade. On the bright side, all five seem to be trending in the right direction insofar as four of them look improved and Vanderbilt still gets to cash a $65 million-a-year check from the SEC.