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) /

7 of 13

(Photo by Tyler Kaufman/Icon Sportswire/Corbis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

14. Alabama Crimson Tide – 2015

Lost to Ohio State in Semifinal (Sugar Bowl), 42-35

In truth, the 2014-15 Alabama Crimson Tide was closer to winning the Natty than you might actually believe. Yes, they lost in the CFP semifinals to Ohio State but, with the way that the Buckeyes dominated in the title game, you have to believe that the Bama team that kept it close with them would’ve been able to hoist the trophy had they gotten past J.T. Barrett and OSU.

Despite the talent on offense, boasting players like Amari Cooper, Derrick Henry and T.J. Yeldon, the Crimson Tide had two glaring flaws on this roster. The first was quarterback Blake Sims, who threw three total interceptions against the Buckeyes. And the other was a run defense that absolutely got torched in this game as well. They were just imperfect enough to lose but also talented enough to hang with anyone.

13. Oregon Ducks – 2015

National Runners-up — Lost to Ohio State, 42-20

After Oregon boat-raced Florida State in their semifinal matchup, the Ducks were seemingly in position to earn Marcus Mariota a National Championship Game victory before he left the land of 1 million uniforms. And while the Ducks offense, Mariota included, was able to keep the pace for close to three-quarters of this matchup, the pedestrian defense and its inability to stop the run proved to be too much for Oregon to overcome.

Put simply Ezekiel Elliott burned the Ducks like a single dad trying to cook on Christmas Eve. The Ohio State running back amassed nearly 250 rushing yards and had four touchdowns as well. As good as Mariota and the Oregon offense were, there was no way for them to keep up late when their defense was conceding that type of game.