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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GLENDALE, AZ – DECEMBER 31: Quarterback J.T. Barrett #16 of the Ohio State Buckeyes drops back to pass during the Playstation Fiesta Bowl against the Clemson Tigers at University of Phoenix Stadium on December 31, 2016 in Glendale, Arizona. The Tigers defeated the Buckeyes 31-0. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

19. Ohio State Buckeyes – 2017

Lost to Clemson in Semifinal (Fiesta Bowl), 31-0

If you had told the Ohio State Buckeyes that their defense would be able to pick off Clemson Tigers quarterback Deshaun Watson twice in the Fiesta Bowl, they would have thought that was the dream scenario. After all, the Buckeyes were the favorites entering their CFP semifinal matchup with Watson and the Tigers and having success defensively against him surely seemed like the recipe for a win and advancing to the title game.

Of course, that’s not the way things happened as Ohio State was wholly overmatched by everything Clemson could throw at them. Despite the fact that the Buckeyes defense came up with those turnovers, they still allowed the Tigers to make plays on them throughout the game, allowing three rushing touchdowns (two by Watson, one by Wayne Gallman) and allowed Watson to throw for 259 yards and a score.

To make matters worse, Ohio State simply looked hapless when they had the ball against this Clemson defense. Quarterback J.T. Barrett set numerous records throughout his time at Ohio State, but he showed in the Fiesta Bowl why he had so many doubters, throwing for just 127 yards on 33 attempts while also tossing two interceptions and adding next-to-nothing with his rushing ability.

Nothing worked for Ohio State and you could make the argument that they’ve paid for it in the selection process since, whether that’s fair or not. Regardless of that, though, it’s clear that the Buckeyes entering the 2016-17 College Football Playoff had no business being mentioned among the best teams in the country. They were good, but not quite at that level.

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