Every College Football Playoff team in history, ranked

16. Oklahoma Sooners – 2019

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

Going from the 2017-18 Clemson Tigers to the 2018-19 Oklahoma Sooners is to touch on both ends of the spectrum. Kyler Murray took the reins of the offense following Baker Mayfield’s departure and there were few teams in college football capable of stopping their attack. In fact, they put up 34 points on Alabama in the Orange Bowl.

However, the Sooners came up short defensively against the Crimson Tide and, frankly, their offense took a minute to ultimately catch up. Oklahoma trailed 31-10 at halftime, having no shot against Tua Tagovailoa and that offense and, though Murray mounted a comeback attempt, their defense gave them no real chance of making that possible. All of that is why they rank slightly below a previous Sooners team.

15. Oklahoma Sooners – 2018

Lost to Georgia in Semifinal (Rose Bowl), 54-48

Common sense would normally dictate that a team can’t allow 54 points and win a football game, especially with the stakes being as high as they are in the College Football Playoff. Yet, the Oklahoma Sooners almost made that reality as Baker Mayfield and Lincoln Riley’s team almost took down the Georgia Bulldogs in one of the best CFP games to date.

Oklahoma jumped out a 31-17 lead at halftime against Georgia on the back of Mayfield and running back Rodney Anderson, the latter ending the game with 201 rushing yards. The lackluster defense, however, bit the Sooners in the second half, which allowed Nick Chubb and Sony Michel to run amok and force overtime, which Michel owned with a 27-yard game-winning touchdown run.