Every College Football Playoff team in history, ranked

SANTA CLARA, CA - JANUARY 07: Trevor Lawrence #16 of the Clemson Tigers celebrates with the trophy after his 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 Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

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Joe Burrow, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, LSU Tigers

(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

4. LSU Tigers – 2020

Playing Oklahoma in Semifinal (Peach Bowl)

In case this wasn’t clear by their inclusion at No. 4 in these rankings, I’m quite high on the LSU Tigers in the 2019-20 College Football Playoff and agree that the top-ranked team in the latest Playoff should be the favorites to win the title. Yes, their defense has been imperfect and, frankly, overly generous at times. However, when you get down to the nuts and bolts of Ed Orgeron’s team, it’s hard to deny them their due.

That, of course, starts on offense with Heisman-winner Joe Burrow at the helm. Not only has the quarterback been near-unstoppable but he has elite weapons around him with Ja’Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson and Clyde Edwards-Helaire. And despite the defense’s shortcomings, there’s reason to believe a unit including Derek Stingley Jr., Grant Delpit, K’Lavon Chaisson and much more could flip a switch on the big stage and be dominant en route to winning the Natty.

3. Alabama Crimson Tide – 2016

National Champions — Def. Clemson, 45-40

Because Alabama has been so dynamic at quarterback in recent years with Jalen Hurts and Tua Tagovailoa, it feels like forever ago that someone like Jake Coker was at the helm. Yet, it really wasn’t that long ago. Though Coker may not have been a game-changer for the Crimson Tide, he was every bit good enough to maximize the talent of one of the deepest rosters that Nick Saban has ever coached in Tuscaloosa (which is obviously saying something).

My favorite stat about the 2015-16 Crimson Tide is that 15 of their 22 starters were taken in the first four rounds of the NFL Draft. That just speaks to the immense overall talent of this team. But why they come in at No. 3 is that the defense, specifically, didn’t show that against Deshaun Watson and Clemson in the Natty, giving up 40 points. Yes, O.J. Howard and the offense were good enough to secure the win but the uber-gifted defense not living up to the hype in the National Championship Game is a hair you have to split.