Ranking every College Football Playoff team in history

3. Alabama Crimson Tide – 2016

National Champions — Def. Clemson, 45-40

The 2016 iteration of the Alabama Crimson Tide was absolutely loaded throughout the roster on both sides of the ball in terms of their talent. It’s never remotely shocking to see a talented Alabama team in the Nick Saban era, but the roster that he had for the 2016 title game is one of the most impressive of his tenure.

Though obviously not all in the same year, the Alabama team that took on Clemson in the second-ever College Football Playoff National Championship Game had 15 of their 22 starters taken in the first four rounds of the NFL Draft, which includes seven of those players being taken in the first round. Funny enough, the position where they were perhaps lacking the most was at quarterback with Jake Coker as the starter.

In the title game against Clemson, however, Coker’s ultimately lacking overall ability was not a hindrance to them. With Derrick Henry carrying the offense and Coker making enough plays to big-time playmakers like O.J. Howard, the offense continued to trade blows with the Tigers until a 95-yard kickoff return ultimately put the game out of reach and allowed Alabama to hold on for the win.

With all this talent, however, the reason that this Alabama team falls short of the top two in these rankings is because they honestly weren’t as good as they could have been. They should have wrecked anyone in front of them with the roster they had, but they weren’t quite on that level. This Crimson Tide team was great, without question, but not as great as they could have (or should have) been.