Ranking every College Football Playoff team in history

9. Alabama Crimson Tide – 2019

National Runners-up — Lost to Clemson, 44-16

Throughout the bulk of the 2018 regular season in college football, the major question that every analyst and fan seemed to be asking was if any team would be able to stop the Alabama Crimson Tide. This was a version of Bama that we’d never seen under Nick Saban, a group with the trademark uber-talented defense that was bolstered by an offense with a ton of firepower with Tua Tagovailoa at the helm.

They looked the part of the unstoppable force in the semifinal matchup against Oklahoma, winning by 11 points in a game that was far less close than the final would make it seem. When it came to the College Football Playoff National Championship Game against the Clemson Tigers, however, it was clear that Bama may not have been the juggernaut that we’d all pegged them to be.

Make no mistake, Tagovailoa and the Alabama offense were lethal for much of the year and even early on against Clemson. Their ability to attack at every level in the passing game was tough to stop. However, the defense routinely suffered lapses, especially as games wore on, which everyone wrote off, but turned out to be a real problem in the title game as they stared down Trevor Lawrence and he tore them apart.

With the recent nature of their loss to the Tigers, it’s easy to sour on this Crimson Tide team. However, it’s hard to ultimately forgive the embarrassment that they suffered on the biggest stage that the sport has to offer.