Ranking every College Football Playoff team of all time

College Football Playoff team No. 26: Ohio State Buckeyes, 2017

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

Ohio State even making it into the Playoff after the 2016 regular season was a bit controversial. They only had one regular-season loss, which came against Penn State. However, as the Nittany Lions also only suffered one loss, the Buckeyes weren’t even in the Big Ten Championship Game. Yet, the committee still put Urban Meyer’s team among the final four teams for the postseason. And it turns out, that might’ve been a big mistake.

Despite his record-breaking career with the Buckeyes, J.T. Barrett was no match for the Clemson defense in the Fiesta Bowl. He was not only pedestrian as a rusher but he also threw for just 127 yards on the day. And to make matters worse, the defense did their part early but got virtually no help from the offense, which then allowed the Tigers to pull away. Anytime you have a blowout loss like this one, it’s hard to believe in the quality of the losing side.

College Football Playoff team No. 25: Oklahoma Sooners, 2020

Lost to LSU in Semifinal (Peach Bowl), 63-28

On one hand, you can’t totally fault Lincoln Riley’s Oklahoma Sooners for running into the LSU buzzsaw in the Peach Bowl. They dominated virtually every team that they played throughout the year and it figured that the group from Norman would be no different, especially with a defense that, as tradition insists, wasn’t up to snuff in comparison to the other three teams that made it into the CFP field.

But when you look at this version of the Sooners in comparison to the teams led by Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray, the team led by Jalen Hurts simply wasn’t as good on offense. Considering that’s what the team’s success was predicated upon, that’s not the best look. And neither is letting Joe Burrow score at will, which OU was more than willing to do in this game, making them clearly one of the worst Playoff teams in these rankings.