Ranking every College Football Playoff team in history

1. Clemson Tigers – 2017

Result: National Champions (Def. Alabama, 35-31)

Perhaps you could call it recency bias, but last year’s iteration of the Clemson Tigers that were able to top the Alabama Crimson Tide are the best team we’ve seen in the history of the College Football Playoff. Of course, it all starts with Dabo Swinney, who has proven time and again that he’s one of the elite college football coaches — not just in the game today — but in the history of the sport.

Of course, when you give a high caliber coach like Swinney a player like Deshaun Watson at his disposal, you’re talking about a force that’s unlikely to be contained by anyone. However, what set last year’s team apart from the previous year’s iteration was the weaponry that Watson had around him, specifically in regards to the likes of Mike Williams, and the defense.

We’ve seen throughout this season just how terrific the talent on Clemson’s defense is this season, and the first signs of that were evident last season. The likes of Christian Wilkins were indomitable talents up front, but there were also on-field leaders like Ben Boulware to bring it all together.

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Then when you factor in high-end talents like Williams to go with the extraordinary Watson, it’s impossible to argue against this team. They hit on every note that you want a team to in terms of talent, and proved in the National Championship that they also had what it took in terms of guts, coming through in the final moments to capture the title.