Ranking every College Football Playoff team in history

SANTA CLARA, CA - JANUARY 07: Adam Choice #26 and Trevor Lawrence #16 of the Clemson Tigers celebrate with the trophy after their teams 44-16 win over the Alabama Crimson Tide in the CFP National Championship presented by AT&T at Levi's Stadium on January 7, 2019 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

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ATLANTA, GA – JANUARY 08: Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (13) runs with the football during the College Football Playoff National Championship Game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Georgia Bulldogs on January 8, 2018 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA. (Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

5. Alabama Crimson Tide – 2018

National Champions — Def. Georgia, 26-23

For just another in many appearances on these rankings, we look at the Alabama Crimson Tide, this time the 2018 National Champions that topped the Georgia Bulldogs in an overtime thriller that went down as an instant-classic. Nick Saban’s team showed a ton of a heart and, of course, found a new star in Tua Tagovailoa.

After Kirby Smart’s Georgia team put the Tide on the ropes early on, taking a 20-7 lead late in the third quarter, recently inserted true freshman quarterback Tua Tagovailoa took over the game for the Crimson Tide and orchestrated a comeback to tie it at 20-20 at the end of regulation. Following a defensive stand that limited UGA to a field goal in overtime, Tagovailoa came up big again with the game-winning 41-yard touchdown pass.

Of course, the biggest reason why the 2018 National Champion Alabama team comes in as the lowest-ranked title-winner in these rankings really comes down to two things. The first is obviously how close they were to not becoming winners, needing a quarterback change and comeback to pull off the win. However, there’s also the fact that you could make the argument that they shouldn’t have been in the Playoff at all.

In the 2017 regular season, Alabama failed to make it to the SEC Championship Game as they lost to Auburn in the Iron Bowl. Subsequently, they were given a bid as the No. 4 seed in the Playoff still, but with many others (namely Ohio State) crying foul about that. Yes, they won, which is undeniable. But there are rightful questions about whether they should’ve been there in the first place, which is a knock against them.

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