CFB

By The Numbers: The CFB Playoff History

Photo: Chris Graythen / Getty Images

By Contributor Aaron Yorke

Everyone always gets excited for the start of the new year. It’s a time to spend time with family, reconnect with friends, and make promises to yourself that you’ll finally start to become a better person in January. For college football fans, though, New Years is even more exciting. At this time of year we always get the best game of the season with the best teams from the best conferences fighting for gridiron supremacy.

The end of the season got even more exciting in 2014 when the old BCS system was replaced by the College Football Playoff. The new CFP expanded the number of schools eligible for the championship from two to four and introduced a more subjective ranking system to select the worthy teams. In the seven years since the introduction of the CFP, we’ve had a mix of dominating blowouts and legendary thrillers, but most fans can agree that giving more teams access to their title dreams is a good thing.

Let’s explore the CFP’s short history with some illuminating numbers. When we mention a year, it will be the year that most of that season was played in, not the year that the season finished in. For example, this coming championship will be the 2021 Playoff.

Different Teams to Make the Playoff: 13

Before 2021, this number was only 11, but Michigan and Cincinnati broke through to give us some fresh uniforms to look at this year. This is the eighth rendition of the playoff, so if we had brand new teams every year, the number would be 32. From that perspective, 13 isn’t a lot. On the other hand, from 2015 to 2018, we only saw three different teams play for the title. Having different teams involved is fun, even if they lose in their first appearance and never return like Florida State, Michigan State, and Washington.

By the way, Alabama leads everyone with seven playoff appearances, while Clemson is second with six showings. Seven schools have made it just once, with LSU being the only one of those to win it all.

Teams to Reach the Championship: 6

We all know that Alabama and Clemson have made multiple trips to the National Championship Game, but remember Oregon? They defeated Jameis Winston and Florida State in the first CFP when the Seminoles were the defending national champs. The Ducks then lost to an Ohio State team that many people thought shouldn’t have been included in the top four. A Pac-12 representative hasn’t reached the final since then.

Meanwhile, the SEC has had three different schools reach the National Championship, with Georgia losing a thriller to Alabama in 2017 and LSU completing one of the greatest campaigns in history with a win over Clemson in 2019.

Teams to Win the Title: 4

Just because the CFP might be preferable to the BCS, that doesn’t mean that college football is a world of parity. Through seven years of the CFP, only four teams have won the thing, with Alabama leading the way with three titles. Clemson has won twice, with both victories coming over the Crimson Tide, while Ohio State and LSU have each won once.

Some fans argue that the lack of variety in the championship is a reason to expand the Playoff, but a bigger Playoff doesn’t mean that we’ll see different teams in the championship. A bigger factor might be the shuffling of coaches we saw this month. It’s easy to envision USC breaking through in the future with Lincoln Riley at the helm. There’s also a higher ceiling for Brian Kelly now that he’s gone from Notre Dame to LSU...

Every CFP Game Ever Played

Story Continued...

No. 4 seeds to beat No. 1 Seeds: 2

We’ve certainly seen some blowouts in this spot, like when Alabama stomped Washington 24-7 in 2016 and when LSU thrashed Oklahoma 63-28 in 2019. However, in the inaugural playoff, we saw Ohio State beat No. 1 Alabama 42-35 after the Buckeyes came in as a seven-point underdog. In 2017, No. 4 Alabama took down No. 1 Clemson 24-6, but that one comes with a caveat since the lower-seeded Crimson Tide were favored by a field goal. Sometimes Las Vegas doesn’t agree with the selection committee, and the gamblers ended up looking like the wise guys.

Both Ohio State and Alabama went on to win the title in those years, so there’s something to be said about coming into the Playoff with a chip on your shoulder.

Number of Overtime Games: 2

We go back to 2017 again, as that’s when both of these classic games took place. In the Rose Bowl semifinal, Georgia beat Oklahoma in double overtime 54-48 with Sony Michel scoring the walk-off touchdown to cap a three-touchdown, 181-yard night. Not only was that one of the best Rose Bowl Games ever played, but it set the stage for a classic title game between Alabama and Georgia. The Bulldogs appeared to be on their way to their first title since 1980 when they jumped out to a 13-0 halftime lead, but true freshman Tua Tagovailoa relieved Jalen Hurts and threw two touchdown passes in the second half to lead Alabama back.

In overtime, Georgia regained the momentum with a Rodrigo Blankenship field goal followed by a first-down sack of Tagovailoa that pushed the Tide back to 2nd and 26. The next play is etched into every Alabama and Georgia fan’s mind forever as Tagovailoa hit DeVonta Smith on a 41-yard touchdown strike to clinch the title for big bad ‘Bama.

Titles by CFP Ranking

No. 4: 2

No. 3: 0

No. 2: 3

No.1: 2

This is why it’s so important to get into the playoff; because once you’re in, it doesn’t really matter where you’re seeded.

In fact, until LSU won in 2019, the top seed had never won the playoff. Alabama triumphed last year to make it two in a row for the top dogs. Both of Clemson’s titles came from the two spot, as well as Alabama’s first CFP title win in 2015.

Group of 5 Schools to Make the Playoff: 1

It would’ve been quite the underdog story if Cincinnati had reached the National Championship. That’s because a Group of 5 team has never qualified for the playoff before Cincinnati went undefeated in the American Athletic Conference this season. Unfortunately for the Bearcats, they got stomped by Alabama last weekend (27-6) for a quick one-and-done.

After a pair of blowouts on New Year’s Eve, it’s once again Alabama (1) vs. Georgia (3) for all the marbles next Monday. We’ll see if the Tide can win their third CFP Championship trophy, or if the Bulldogs can claim their first. It’s a revenge match of the SEC title game and the 2018 National Championship. And it’s almost here.

CFP National Championship Game

#1 Alabama vs. #3 Georgia (Mon. 8:00 pm ET, ESPN)

Additional Storylines

CBS Sports: Will Georgia’s Might or Alabama’s Dominance Prevail in Championship?

SI: Expanding the College Football Playoff Has Become Increasingly Difficult

ESPN: College Football Playoff Championship First Look: Can Georgia Finally Get Past Alabama?

🎥 THE HIGHLIGHTS

🏀 NBA: Grizzlies Claim 6th Straight

Memphis won its sixth straight game on Tuesday night over the Cavs (110-106) thanks to a 26-6-5 night from Ja Morant. Morant is averaging 33.2 ppg over his last five outings.

🏒 NHL: Makar’s OT Winner Lifts Avalanche

The Avalanche escaped the Blackhawks in an overtime thriller (4-3) thanks to Cale Makar’s spectacular game-winner at 2:38 into the OT. Erik Johnson also scored twice before Makar’s epic deke into a top-shelf walk-off.

🏈 CFB: K-State Wins TaxAct Texas Bowl

Tuesday’s TaxAct Texas Bowl was a blowout by Kansas State over LSU (42-20) after the game was postponed. K-State tallied six touchdowns, including three the air and three from a dominant rushing performance by RB Deuce Vaughn (21 carries, 146 yards, 3 TDs).

🏀 NCAAM: #21 LSU Staves Off Late Rally

An SEC showdown between #21 LSU and #16 Kentucky had the eyes of college basketball on Tuesday. It was the Tigers who got two late dunks to seal the win at the home (65-60) and improve to 13-1 on the year.

🏀 NCAAW: Nebraska Pulls Massive Top-10 Upset

In the women’s game, unranked Nebraska pulled a shocker in the Big Ten with a 21-point blowout win over #8 Michigan (79-58). Freshman Alexis Markowski led the way for the Cornhuskers with 20 points and 7 rebounds.

THE STORYLINES

🏀 Jay Bilas’ 1-68 College Basketball Rankings

As you know, TBI (The Bilas Index) is the greatest and most comprehensive evaluation of basketball accomplishment and predictive measure of future performance known to mankind, and perhaps beyond. (ESPN+)

🏈 The WFT Announcement is Coming

The Washington Football Team will officially have a new name for the 2022 season and beyond. Team president Jason Wright announced the new team name will be unveiled in about a month -- Feb. 2, 2022. (CBS Sports)

💪 Women’s Sports Led the Way in 2021

Before the calendar flips over to 2022 – a year that will mark the 50th anniversary of Title IX – On Her Turf is revisiting a few of the many times women’s sports led the way in 2021.(NBC Sports)