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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MIAMI GARDENS, FL – DECEMBER 29: Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray (1) looks over the defense prior to the snap during the second half of the CFP Semifinal at the Orange Bowl between Alabama Crimson Tide and the Oklahoma Sooners on December 29, 2018, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL. (Photo by Roy K. Miller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

14. Oklahoma Sooners – 2019

Los to Alabama in Semifinal (Orange Bowl), 45-34

The 2018-19 Oklahoma Sooners were one of the hardest teams to place in these rankings. When it comes to what they were capable of offensively, they might be one of the best of the 20 teams that have played in the College Football Playoff. That was evident in their Orange Bowl loss to the Alabama Crimson Tide as they were able to put up 34 points on Nick Saban’s team and a defense littered with pro-caliber talent.

Of course, much of that offense came when they were already in a gigantic hole as Alabama built a sizeable lead. The Sooners went into the locker room for halftime already trailing 31-10 and seemingly not having a chance at coming back. Thus, you could write some of their offense in this game off as garbage time scoring.

Having said that, Kyler Murray and this Sooners offense that boasted weapons like CeeDee Lamb and Marquise “Hollywood” Brown did show that they weren’t going to roll over and die, which is to their credit. Not only were they immensely talented, but they simply would not roll over no matter the situation, which they showed Alabama in the second half of their semifinal matchup.

Even still, what holds Oklahoma back is the fact that their defense just wasn’t good. They couldn’t stop anyone in the Big 12 for much of the year and couldn’t do it against Alabama either. Even when the Sooners offense got rolling, the defense couldn’t come up with enough stops to ultimately make it all that close.

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