Ranking every College Football Playoff team in history

4. Ohio State Buckeyes – 2015

National Champions — Def. Oregon, 42-20

Entering the first-ever College Football Playoff National Championship Game, the Oregon Ducks led by Marcus Mariota were favored by seven points over the Ohio State Buckeyes. It wasn’t hard to see why given the fact that the Buckeyes were starting Cardale Jones, their third player to take snaps at the position on the season, and how good and explosive Oregon had been that season. The thing is, however, the Ohio State team was good enough to overcome that.

For one thing, Jones performed quite well despite his lack of experience on the year as a whole, going 16-of-23 for 242 yards, one touchdown and just one interception. However, where the Buckeyes thrived in this matchup was on the ground. Not only did Jones himself have 38 yards and a score, but running back Ezekiel Elliott was unstoppable from the jump as he carried the ball 36 times for 246 yards and four touchdowns.

Not only did the success of Elliott in the rushing attack take Oregon out of the flow of their high-octane offense, but the Ohio State defense came up huge, particularly in the second half. With players like Joey Bosa, Eli Apple and Darron Lee on that unit, that’s not hardtop see, but it was evident in the title game win.

That defense and the performance of Elliott ultimately resulted in a dominant win for the Buckeyes. However, had Jones been better in the first half, it could have been even more impressive, which would have ultimately moved them up these rankings.