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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SANTA CLARA, CA – JANUARY 07: Trevor Lawrence #16 and Travis Etienne #9 of the Clemson Tigers celebrate their second quarter touchdown against 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 Harry How/Getty Images) /

1. Clemson Tigers – 2019

National Champions — Def. Alabama, 44-16

There’s at least a chance that the recent nature of the 2019 College Football Playoff National Championship Game is coloring the top of these rankings. However, it’s also hard to make a case against the Clemson Tigers of the 2018-19 season and what they were able to accomplish this year.

After a letdown in the previous season where their offense clearly fell off with Kelly Bryant at the helm after Deshaun Watson’s departure, head coach Dabo Swinney made the bold call — after a four-game audition — to name true freshman Trevor Lawrence the starting quarterback over Bryant. That move transformed this team and ultimately made them a juggernaut on both sides of the ball.

This was never more evident than in the title game against the Alabama Crimson Tide, the fourth time that the two teams met in the CFP in as many years. While many looked at Bama as the untouchable force of the sport, the Tigers didn’t just touch them, but they ran them into the ground. Lawrence was phenomenal, running back Travis Etienne and, after an early-game flurry, the defense was a stalwart that suffocated the Tide.

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Even more impressive about Clemson’s title-game performance was that their defense did this without one of the best players, defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence. With a 30-3 win over Notre Dame in their semifinal, their combined margin of victory for the College Football Playoff was an astounding 55 points, fully making their case as the top dog in the history of the CFP.

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