Ranking every College Football Playoff team in history

TAMPA, FL - JANUARY 09: Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney holds up the National Championship trophy after the 2017 College Football National Championship Game between the Clemson Tigers and Alabama Crimson Tide on January 9, 2017, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL. Clemson defeated Alabama 35-31. (Photo by Mark LoMoglio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

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January 1, 2015: Florida State Seminoles quarterback Jameis Winston (5) during the College Football Playoff Semifinal Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual between the Florida State Seminoles and the Oregon Ducks at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA. (Photo by Ric Tapia/Icon Sportswire/Corbis via Getty Images) /

10. Florida State Seminoles – 2015

Result: Lost to Oregon in Semifinal (Rose Bowl), 59-20

Let’s just get this out of the way — the Florida State Seminoles got the brakes beaten off of them by the Oregon Ducks in the CFP Semifinal played in the Rose Bowl in 2015. Allowing 59 points is fine if you’re in a shootout, but doing so while only scoring 20 points and while allowing 34 unanswered points to finish the game is just plain bad. However, that doesn’t speak to the quality of this FSU team overall.

Of course, the Seminoles were led by a transcendent talent in quarterback Jameis Winston, who wasn’t as bad as some might remember in that loss. He threw some questionable balls, sure, but he ultimately tossed the rock for 348 yards and a score and only one interception. Meanwhile, the offense also had a running back tandem that was lethal in Dalvin Cook and Karlos Williams.

Much like with this season’s version of Oklahoma, however, the Seminoles simply didn’t have the defense that it takes to win a National Championship. They allowed Marcus Mariota and Oregon to get into a rhythm as the game went on, which is something that no team in the country could contend with at that point. And at a certain point, it was too bleeding to be stopped and the Ducks kept pouring it on.

Even still, when you look at this team and that game, that’s not the way it would play out every single time. They weren’t better than Oregon, but they were certainly better than they showed in a 39-point loss.