Post by bigdawgs on Mar 4, 2024 16:50:55 GMT -5
EXCLUSIVE CONTENT
Grading every team ever ranked by the CFP committee
ESPN Illustration
David Hale, ESPN Staff Writer
Mar 4, 2024, 07:00 AM ET
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The four-team playoff era has come to an end. It was a heck of a decade. In all, 86 different teams spent at least one week ranked by the playoff committee, 25 were ranked in the top four, eight were ranked No. 1 and six won national titles.
But that math only takes us so far. What we really need is a full accounting of the four-team playoff era, a ranking slathered in math but ultimately as arbitrary as anything the committee has given us in the past decade.
Of course, as the committee has taught us, there's no easy calculus for this type of exercise. For example, consider the following comparison.
Team A: 95-33, 49 weeks ranked in the committee poll, seven 10-win seasons
Team B: 94-32, 43 weeks ranked in the committee poll, six 10-win seasons
Who was better?
If you leaned toward Team A, we're sorry. That's Notre Dame, a two-time playoff participant that's never really sniffed a national title.
Team B, on the other hand, is the defending champ. Michigan had an uneven decade, but it ended on a high note.
Edge: Michigan.
For this ranking, we looked at all the hard numbers -- wins, playoff appearances, SP+ (colleague Bill Connelly's tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of efficiency), top-25 finishes and plenty of others -- but ultimately had to compare the results with reasonable expectations and weigh the teams with dizzying highs and troubling lows against the ones with consistent-but-inconsequential success.
The result is the definitive ranking of all 86 teams that have spent at least one week in the committee's top 25 (plus the other Power 5 schools that never caught the committee's eye). We're happy to take questions during our post-release results show, but we're just going to talk in circles and mention "game control" at least 12 times.
Jump to: A's | B's | C's | D's | F's
Valedictorian
1. Alabama Crimson Tide
Record: 127-14
Average SP+: 31.4 (1st)
It's impossible to overstate how much the rest of the college football world has existed in Alabama's orbit during Nick Saban's tenure in Tuscaloosa. Since he arrived in 2007, every national champion but two -- and just one during the playoff era -- has either been Alabama or beaten Alabama on its path to a title. (And the two holdouts -- 2013 FSU and 2022 Georgia -- beat teams that beat Alabama.) The Tide have the most wins, most playoff wins, best SP+, most weeks ranked in the committee's top four and most wins over ranked opponents in the past 10 years -- all by a fairly substantial margin. They're one of two programs ranked in every committee poll of the four-team era, and they've been ranked in every AP poll dating back to 2008. That college football is entering a new era of expanded conferences and a 12-team playoff signifies great change ahead -- but perhaps nothing will shake up the sport's status quo more than Saban's retirement.
A+
2. Clemson Tigers
Record: 119-20
Average SP+: 22.2 (3rd)
The Tigers have two national titles, played for two others, won 10 games nine times and have spent 35 weeks in the committee's top four, trailing only Alabama. And yet, Dabo Swinney still has to deal with angry callers to his radio show questioning whether the program is still relevant. Yes, Clemson has missed the playoff the past three years. And in that span, the Tigers are 30-10 -- only the seventh-best record among Power 5 teams. As slumps go, we should all be so lucky.
3. Ohio State Buckeyes
Record: 115-15
Average SP+: 29.2 (2nd)
In addition to Alabama, Ohio State is the only other team to be ranked in all 60 of the committee's top 25 rankings during the four-team playoff era. The Buckeyes have the second-most wins, are tied for the second-most New Year's Six games played, and have been ranked in all but two AP polls over the past decade. The knock on the Buckeyes, however, is they haven't been able to get over the hump in the biggest games since 2014's surprise national championship behind third-string quarterback Cardale Jones. Clemson, Alabama and (lately) Michigan have all had Ohio State's number since 2014, leaving many Buckeyes fans to wonder what might've been if things had gone just a little differently. But hey, if you're always on the green, eventually a few putts will fall. Just ask the team at No. 4.
4. Georgia Bulldogs
Record: 114-22
Average SP+: 26.2 (3rd)
The four-team playoff era clearly belonged to Alabama. But the team most likely to dominate the next 10 years of college football may well be Georgia, which has won two of the past three national titles and continues to put together dominant recruiting classes year after year. The only thing holding Georgia back from a top-three spot -- and perhaps No. 2 overall -- is a shaky start to the beginning of the four-team era. Although the Bulldogs have finished ranked in the AP top seven in each of the past seven seasons, they finished unranked in two of the first three years of the playoff.
A
Michigan won the last national championship of the four-team playoff era. Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images
5. Michigan Wolverines
Record: 94-32
Average SP+: 21.6 (5th)
At the end of the 2020 season, Michigan was barely a speck on the playoff-era radar. The Wolverines were 54-29 over the previous seven seasons -- fewer wins than Stanford, USC, Florida or Auburn -- and hadn't finished better than sixth in the committee's rankings. They'd lost four straight bowl games and missed the postseason in 2020. Jim Harbaugh was nearly fired. And then -- magic. Michigan beat Ohio State three straight years, made the playoff in 2021 and 2022, then won it all in 2023. What once seemed like a decade wasted in business class ended with Michigan flying the plane.
6. Oklahoma Sooners
Record: 102-29
Average SP+: 20.3 (6th)
Only three teams have spent more weeks ranked in the committee's top 25 during the four-team playoff era than Oklahoma: Alabama, Ohio State and Clemson. Those three teams have a combined 23 New Year's Six or playoff wins and six national titles. Oklahoma, on the other hand, has just two wins in New Year's Six games and an 0-4 mark in the playoff. Whether a move to the SEC forces the Sooners to take the next step toward postseason dominance or results in a step back from the regular-season elite might be one of the biggest questions of the next incarnation of the playoff.
A-
7. LSU Tigers
Record: 90-38
Average SP+: 18.9 (7th)
The Tigers made just one playoff (and played in just three New Year's Six games) during the four-team era, but that 2019 team has a good case as the best single team of the past decade and (perhaps) of all time. Joe Burrow, Justin Jefferson & Co. were utterly dominant, beat seven top-10 teams en route to a title, and won their two playoff games by a combined 52 points. That 2019 was LSU's lone top-10 finish of the playoff era is a blemish on the overall résumé, but spending the decade in the same division as Alabama didn't help much either.
8. Oregon Ducks
Record: 90-38
Average SP+: 13.5 (17th)
Oregon was a part of the first playoff, falling to Ohio State in the title game in 2014. The Ducks have been knocking on the door ever since -- including six seasons of nine or more wins -- but getting back to the promised land has proven difficult. The Ducks have cracked the committee's top 15 in each of the past five years, made five New Year's Six games (plus a national championship), spent nine weeks in the committee's top four (tied with Oklahoma for ninth most), and been ranked in 115 AP polls in the playoff era. The Ducks have as many wins as LSU, as many New Year's Six or playoff games as Michigan and more conference championships than Georgia -- but they don't have a national title.
9. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Record: 95-33
Average SP+: 17.1 (10th)
Notre Dame is one of six teams to spend at least 15 weeks ranked in the committee's top four. The other five all won a national championship. The Irish have seven seasons with 10 wins or more. Every team with more has a national title. Notre Dame has spent 134 weeks ranked in the AP poll. Of the five teams with more, only Oklahoma didn't win a national title. Basically the Irish have been elite during the regular season throughout the four-team playoff era. After that though? They're 0-4 in New Year's Six and playoff games. Of the 19 programs with at least three playoff/New Year's Six games, Notre Dame is the only one without a win.
10. Washington Huskies
Record: 87-38
Average SP+: 15.2 (12th)
Aside from the Jimmy Lake era, it was a pretty darned good decade for the Huskies. Washington had five 10-win seasons, is one of just eight teams to make the playoff more than once, has five top-16 finishes (including three in the top eight) and played in five New Year's Six games. And yet, Washington somehow has only been ranked by the committee as many weeks as ... Auburn.
B+
11. Wisconsin Badgers
Record: 90-38
Average SP+: 18.3 (9th)
No team in college football has a better record over the past 10 years without making the playoff than Wisconsin. The Badgers have five 10-win seasons, played in four conference title games and are one of just 11 teams to have been ranked for at least 100 weeks in the AP poll during the playoff era, and yet they've never finished better than sixth in the committee's final ranking. They're 0-4 in those Big Ten title games, and with the league moving to division-less play in 2024, the road ahead looks tougher than ever for Wisconsin to get over the hump.
12. Utah Utes
Record: 86-40
Average SP+: 14.6 (15th)
The Utes have been ranked in the AP Top 25 every year of the playoff era, cracked the committee's top 15 six times, and finished with nine or more wins seven times (and the 2020 season was largely a loss, as Utah played just five games). The knock is that the Utes have lost their past five bowl games, including two Rose Bowls, and their 17 losses while ranked in the committee's poll are the most of the playoff era. Still, it's impossible to argue with the work Kyle Whittingham has done. Three years before the playoff began, Utah was in the Mountain West. Over the past 10 years, only a handful of Power 5 teams have been better.
13. Penn State Nittany Lions
Record: 88-39
Average SP+: 18.6 (8th)
How good has Penn State been during the playoff era? That might be a matter of perspective. On one hand, SP+ says the Nittany Lions are the eighth-best team of the era. Their winning percentage ranks 12th among Power 5 schools. They've made the New Year's Six in five of 10 years. That's all great. On the other hand, they've spent just one week ranked in the top four, they have fewer wins over ranked opponents than UCLA, Mississippi State or Arizona State, and they're 4-16 against their chief rivals, Michigan and Ohio State. Penn State would seem to be the team that spent the most time knocking on the door of the four-team playoff without actually making it, and therefore should be the team that benefits the most from playoff expansion. But it could also be the Nittany Lions have benefited already from a weak Big Ten outside of the top two teams, and there's a clear line of demarcation between Michigan and Ohio State and everyone else.
14. Oklahoma State Cowboys
Record: 89-41
Average SP+: 12.2 (19th)
Are the Cowboys the most underappreciated program of the four-team playoff era? They're one of just nine teams to post a winning record every season of the playoff era. They have a better average SP+ than USC, have spent as many weeks ranked by the committee as Michigan and have more wins against ranked opponents than Notre Dame. And yet, Oklahoma State has never been ranked in the committee's top four, never really sniffed a playoff berth and has just two trips to New Year's Six games. Mike Gundy's program is like Weezer -- nobody's favorite band, but their discography is chock full of bangers. Oklahoma State has never been ranked in the committee's top four.
15. TCU Horned Frogs
Record: 81-46
Average SP+: 11.7 (22nd)
They're probably not the first team you think of as a playoff-era behemoth, but the Horned Frogs have as many wins vs. ranked teams as Michigan, as many 10-win seasons as LSU, more playoff wins than Oklahoma and more weeks ranked in the committee's top four than Washington. If not for the committee's decision to sidestep the thorny question of who was the Big 12's true champion in 2014, the Horned Frogs might've been among the most elite company in college football, as one of the rare programs to appear in multiple playoffs (only eight teams have). Yes, TCU also has four losing seasons in the playoff era, but the good has been very good, and given the program's inherent limitations compared with the blue bloods, it's been an incredibly impressive run.
16. Iowa Hawkeyes
Record: 88-40
Average SP+: 15.0 (14th)
The Hawkeyes have finished with a winning record every season of the playoff era, been ranked in more than half the committee's top 25s, had four 10-win seasons and played for three Big Ten titles. They've done all that in spite of posting the 74th-ranked offensive SP+ and averaging just 25.4 points per game (good for 104th) in that span. Honest question: What if firing Brian Ferentz somehow disrupts the delicate equilibrium that has made this magic work?
B
17. Florida State Seminoles
Record: 82-44
Average SP+: 9.6 (28th)
It's funny, Florida State had five 10-win seasons during the four-team playoff era, but if you ask most FSU fans, the past decade was largely one filled with misery. It's easy to forget the Noles were 13-0 entering the first playoff before losing to Oregon amid a comedy of errors (and turnovers) in the second half of the Rose Bowl. But we'll die on this hill: If Dalvin Cook doesn't fumble after a long run for a first down early in the third quarter, Florida State would've come back to win that game. And yet, somehow that's not even close to the most painful playoff moment for the good folks in Tallahassee.
18. Florida Gators
Record: 76-50
Average SP+: 14.6 (16th)
Kids, you won't believe this, but there was a time, not all that long ago, when the Florida Gators were considered a genuine power in the college football world. Indeed, on Dec. 5, 2020, the Gators beat Tennessee to move to 8-1 on the season, jumping all the way to No. 3 in the AP poll. A week later, a guy threw a shoe, Florida lost to LSU, and since then, everything is pain. Before the shoe throw, Florida was 45-26 in the playoff era, with three top-15 finishes, three 10-win seasons and two New Year's Six bowl wins. After the shoe throw, the Gators are 17-24 and just 10-23 against Power 5 foes. The lesson here? Footwear is not a projectile.
19. Ole Miss Rebels
Record: 73-50
Average SP+: 12.7 (18th)
The Rebels have played in four New Year's Six games. Of teams with more, only Penn State has failed to make the playoff. The Rebels are one of just 25 teams to be ranked in the top four by the committee at any point. They've had three 10-win seasons, spent more weeks in the AP Top 25 than Washington, Florida State or Iowa, and have had 32 players drafted so far, more than Oregon, FSU or Texas. That Saban has retired and the playoff is expanding might well mean the next phase of college football could be even better for Ole Miss.
20. Texas Longhorns
Record: 73-53
Average SP+: 11.5 (23rd)
21. Cincinnati Bearcats
Record: 80-46
Average SP+: 3.5 (54th)
22. Michigan State Spartans
Record: 72-50
Average SP+: 8.1 (33rd)
Texas, Cincinnati and Michigan State all have one trait that qualifies them for elite status over the past decade: They've all made the playoff -- Cincinnati being the lone Group of 5 rep of the decade. Sure, those seasons were surrounded by a decent amount of mediocrity (would you believe the playoff era started with Tommy Tuberville coaching the Bearcats and ended with him in the Senate?), but only 15 teams have reached the rarified air of the playoff, and these three account for 20% of them.
Grading every team ever ranked by the CFP committee
ESPN Illustration
David Hale, ESPN Staff Writer
Mar 4, 2024, 07:00 AM ET
Share
The four-team playoff era has come to an end. It was a heck of a decade. In all, 86 different teams spent at least one week ranked by the playoff committee, 25 were ranked in the top four, eight were ranked No. 1 and six won national titles.
But that math only takes us so far. What we really need is a full accounting of the four-team playoff era, a ranking slathered in math but ultimately as arbitrary as anything the committee has given us in the past decade.
Of course, as the committee has taught us, there's no easy calculus for this type of exercise. For example, consider the following comparison.
Team A: 95-33, 49 weeks ranked in the committee poll, seven 10-win seasons
Team B: 94-32, 43 weeks ranked in the committee poll, six 10-win seasons
Who was better?
If you leaned toward Team A, we're sorry. That's Notre Dame, a two-time playoff participant that's never really sniffed a national title.
Team B, on the other hand, is the defending champ. Michigan had an uneven decade, but it ended on a high note.
Edge: Michigan.
For this ranking, we looked at all the hard numbers -- wins, playoff appearances, SP+ (colleague Bill Connelly's tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of efficiency), top-25 finishes and plenty of others -- but ultimately had to compare the results with reasonable expectations and weigh the teams with dizzying highs and troubling lows against the ones with consistent-but-inconsequential success.
The result is the definitive ranking of all 86 teams that have spent at least one week in the committee's top 25 (plus the other Power 5 schools that never caught the committee's eye). We're happy to take questions during our post-release results show, but we're just going to talk in circles and mention "game control" at least 12 times.
Jump to: A's | B's | C's | D's | F's
Valedictorian
1. Alabama Crimson Tide
Record: 127-14
Average SP+: 31.4 (1st)
It's impossible to overstate how much the rest of the college football world has existed in Alabama's orbit during Nick Saban's tenure in Tuscaloosa. Since he arrived in 2007, every national champion but two -- and just one during the playoff era -- has either been Alabama or beaten Alabama on its path to a title. (And the two holdouts -- 2013 FSU and 2022 Georgia -- beat teams that beat Alabama.) The Tide have the most wins, most playoff wins, best SP+, most weeks ranked in the committee's top four and most wins over ranked opponents in the past 10 years -- all by a fairly substantial margin. They're one of two programs ranked in every committee poll of the four-team era, and they've been ranked in every AP poll dating back to 2008. That college football is entering a new era of expanded conferences and a 12-team playoff signifies great change ahead -- but perhaps nothing will shake up the sport's status quo more than Saban's retirement.
A+
2. Clemson Tigers
Record: 119-20
Average SP+: 22.2 (3rd)
The Tigers have two national titles, played for two others, won 10 games nine times and have spent 35 weeks in the committee's top four, trailing only Alabama. And yet, Dabo Swinney still has to deal with angry callers to his radio show questioning whether the program is still relevant. Yes, Clemson has missed the playoff the past three years. And in that span, the Tigers are 30-10 -- only the seventh-best record among Power 5 teams. As slumps go, we should all be so lucky.
3. Ohio State Buckeyes
Record: 115-15
Average SP+: 29.2 (2nd)
In addition to Alabama, Ohio State is the only other team to be ranked in all 60 of the committee's top 25 rankings during the four-team playoff era. The Buckeyes have the second-most wins, are tied for the second-most New Year's Six games played, and have been ranked in all but two AP polls over the past decade. The knock on the Buckeyes, however, is they haven't been able to get over the hump in the biggest games since 2014's surprise national championship behind third-string quarterback Cardale Jones. Clemson, Alabama and (lately) Michigan have all had Ohio State's number since 2014, leaving many Buckeyes fans to wonder what might've been if things had gone just a little differently. But hey, if you're always on the green, eventually a few putts will fall. Just ask the team at No. 4.
4. Georgia Bulldogs
Record: 114-22
Average SP+: 26.2 (3rd)
The four-team playoff era clearly belonged to Alabama. But the team most likely to dominate the next 10 years of college football may well be Georgia, which has won two of the past three national titles and continues to put together dominant recruiting classes year after year. The only thing holding Georgia back from a top-three spot -- and perhaps No. 2 overall -- is a shaky start to the beginning of the four-team era. Although the Bulldogs have finished ranked in the AP top seven in each of the past seven seasons, they finished unranked in two of the first three years of the playoff.
A
Michigan won the last national championship of the four-team playoff era. Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images
5. Michigan Wolverines
Record: 94-32
Average SP+: 21.6 (5th)
At the end of the 2020 season, Michigan was barely a speck on the playoff-era radar. The Wolverines were 54-29 over the previous seven seasons -- fewer wins than Stanford, USC, Florida or Auburn -- and hadn't finished better than sixth in the committee's rankings. They'd lost four straight bowl games and missed the postseason in 2020. Jim Harbaugh was nearly fired. And then -- magic. Michigan beat Ohio State three straight years, made the playoff in 2021 and 2022, then won it all in 2023. What once seemed like a decade wasted in business class ended with Michigan flying the plane.
6. Oklahoma Sooners
Record: 102-29
Average SP+: 20.3 (6th)
Only three teams have spent more weeks ranked in the committee's top 25 during the four-team playoff era than Oklahoma: Alabama, Ohio State and Clemson. Those three teams have a combined 23 New Year's Six or playoff wins and six national titles. Oklahoma, on the other hand, has just two wins in New Year's Six games and an 0-4 mark in the playoff. Whether a move to the SEC forces the Sooners to take the next step toward postseason dominance or results in a step back from the regular-season elite might be one of the biggest questions of the next incarnation of the playoff.
A-
7. LSU Tigers
Record: 90-38
Average SP+: 18.9 (7th)
The Tigers made just one playoff (and played in just three New Year's Six games) during the four-team era, but that 2019 team has a good case as the best single team of the past decade and (perhaps) of all time. Joe Burrow, Justin Jefferson & Co. were utterly dominant, beat seven top-10 teams en route to a title, and won their two playoff games by a combined 52 points. That 2019 was LSU's lone top-10 finish of the playoff era is a blemish on the overall résumé, but spending the decade in the same division as Alabama didn't help much either.
8. Oregon Ducks
Record: 90-38
Average SP+: 13.5 (17th)
Oregon was a part of the first playoff, falling to Ohio State in the title game in 2014. The Ducks have been knocking on the door ever since -- including six seasons of nine or more wins -- but getting back to the promised land has proven difficult. The Ducks have cracked the committee's top 15 in each of the past five years, made five New Year's Six games (plus a national championship), spent nine weeks in the committee's top four (tied with Oklahoma for ninth most), and been ranked in 115 AP polls in the playoff era. The Ducks have as many wins as LSU, as many New Year's Six or playoff games as Michigan and more conference championships than Georgia -- but they don't have a national title.
9. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Record: 95-33
Average SP+: 17.1 (10th)
Notre Dame is one of six teams to spend at least 15 weeks ranked in the committee's top four. The other five all won a national championship. The Irish have seven seasons with 10 wins or more. Every team with more has a national title. Notre Dame has spent 134 weeks ranked in the AP poll. Of the five teams with more, only Oklahoma didn't win a national title. Basically the Irish have been elite during the regular season throughout the four-team playoff era. After that though? They're 0-4 in New Year's Six and playoff games. Of the 19 programs with at least three playoff/New Year's Six games, Notre Dame is the only one without a win.
10. Washington Huskies
Record: 87-38
Average SP+: 15.2 (12th)
Aside from the Jimmy Lake era, it was a pretty darned good decade for the Huskies. Washington had five 10-win seasons, is one of just eight teams to make the playoff more than once, has five top-16 finishes (including three in the top eight) and played in five New Year's Six games. And yet, Washington somehow has only been ranked by the committee as many weeks as ... Auburn.
B+
11. Wisconsin Badgers
Record: 90-38
Average SP+: 18.3 (9th)
No team in college football has a better record over the past 10 years without making the playoff than Wisconsin. The Badgers have five 10-win seasons, played in four conference title games and are one of just 11 teams to have been ranked for at least 100 weeks in the AP poll during the playoff era, and yet they've never finished better than sixth in the committee's final ranking. They're 0-4 in those Big Ten title games, and with the league moving to division-less play in 2024, the road ahead looks tougher than ever for Wisconsin to get over the hump.
12. Utah Utes
Record: 86-40
Average SP+: 14.6 (15th)
The Utes have been ranked in the AP Top 25 every year of the playoff era, cracked the committee's top 15 six times, and finished with nine or more wins seven times (and the 2020 season was largely a loss, as Utah played just five games). The knock is that the Utes have lost their past five bowl games, including two Rose Bowls, and their 17 losses while ranked in the committee's poll are the most of the playoff era. Still, it's impossible to argue with the work Kyle Whittingham has done. Three years before the playoff began, Utah was in the Mountain West. Over the past 10 years, only a handful of Power 5 teams have been better.
13. Penn State Nittany Lions
Record: 88-39
Average SP+: 18.6 (8th)
How good has Penn State been during the playoff era? That might be a matter of perspective. On one hand, SP+ says the Nittany Lions are the eighth-best team of the era. Their winning percentage ranks 12th among Power 5 schools. They've made the New Year's Six in five of 10 years. That's all great. On the other hand, they've spent just one week ranked in the top four, they have fewer wins over ranked opponents than UCLA, Mississippi State or Arizona State, and they're 4-16 against their chief rivals, Michigan and Ohio State. Penn State would seem to be the team that spent the most time knocking on the door of the four-team playoff without actually making it, and therefore should be the team that benefits the most from playoff expansion. But it could also be the Nittany Lions have benefited already from a weak Big Ten outside of the top two teams, and there's a clear line of demarcation between Michigan and Ohio State and everyone else.
14. Oklahoma State Cowboys
Record: 89-41
Average SP+: 12.2 (19th)
Are the Cowboys the most underappreciated program of the four-team playoff era? They're one of just nine teams to post a winning record every season of the playoff era. They have a better average SP+ than USC, have spent as many weeks ranked by the committee as Michigan and have more wins against ranked opponents than Notre Dame. And yet, Oklahoma State has never been ranked in the committee's top four, never really sniffed a playoff berth and has just two trips to New Year's Six games. Mike Gundy's program is like Weezer -- nobody's favorite band, but their discography is chock full of bangers. Oklahoma State has never been ranked in the committee's top four.
15. TCU Horned Frogs
Record: 81-46
Average SP+: 11.7 (22nd)
They're probably not the first team you think of as a playoff-era behemoth, but the Horned Frogs have as many wins vs. ranked teams as Michigan, as many 10-win seasons as LSU, more playoff wins than Oklahoma and more weeks ranked in the committee's top four than Washington. If not for the committee's decision to sidestep the thorny question of who was the Big 12's true champion in 2014, the Horned Frogs might've been among the most elite company in college football, as one of the rare programs to appear in multiple playoffs (only eight teams have). Yes, TCU also has four losing seasons in the playoff era, but the good has been very good, and given the program's inherent limitations compared with the blue bloods, it's been an incredibly impressive run.
16. Iowa Hawkeyes
Record: 88-40
Average SP+: 15.0 (14th)
The Hawkeyes have finished with a winning record every season of the playoff era, been ranked in more than half the committee's top 25s, had four 10-win seasons and played for three Big Ten titles. They've done all that in spite of posting the 74th-ranked offensive SP+ and averaging just 25.4 points per game (good for 104th) in that span. Honest question: What if firing Brian Ferentz somehow disrupts the delicate equilibrium that has made this magic work?
B
17. Florida State Seminoles
Record: 82-44
Average SP+: 9.6 (28th)
It's funny, Florida State had five 10-win seasons during the four-team playoff era, but if you ask most FSU fans, the past decade was largely one filled with misery. It's easy to forget the Noles were 13-0 entering the first playoff before losing to Oregon amid a comedy of errors (and turnovers) in the second half of the Rose Bowl. But we'll die on this hill: If Dalvin Cook doesn't fumble after a long run for a first down early in the third quarter, Florida State would've come back to win that game. And yet, somehow that's not even close to the most painful playoff moment for the good folks in Tallahassee.
18. Florida Gators
Record: 76-50
Average SP+: 14.6 (16th)
Kids, you won't believe this, but there was a time, not all that long ago, when the Florida Gators were considered a genuine power in the college football world. Indeed, on Dec. 5, 2020, the Gators beat Tennessee to move to 8-1 on the season, jumping all the way to No. 3 in the AP poll. A week later, a guy threw a shoe, Florida lost to LSU, and since then, everything is pain. Before the shoe throw, Florida was 45-26 in the playoff era, with three top-15 finishes, three 10-win seasons and two New Year's Six bowl wins. After the shoe throw, the Gators are 17-24 and just 10-23 against Power 5 foes. The lesson here? Footwear is not a projectile.
19. Ole Miss Rebels
Record: 73-50
Average SP+: 12.7 (18th)
The Rebels have played in four New Year's Six games. Of teams with more, only Penn State has failed to make the playoff. The Rebels are one of just 25 teams to be ranked in the top four by the committee at any point. They've had three 10-win seasons, spent more weeks in the AP Top 25 than Washington, Florida State or Iowa, and have had 32 players drafted so far, more than Oregon, FSU or Texas. That Saban has retired and the playoff is expanding might well mean the next phase of college football could be even better for Ole Miss.
20. Texas Longhorns
Record: 73-53
Average SP+: 11.5 (23rd)
21. Cincinnati Bearcats
Record: 80-46
Average SP+: 3.5 (54th)
22. Michigan State Spartans
Record: 72-50
Average SP+: 8.1 (33rd)
Texas, Cincinnati and Michigan State all have one trait that qualifies them for elite status over the past decade: They've all made the playoff -- Cincinnati being the lone Group of 5 rep of the decade. Sure, those seasons were surrounded by a decent amount of mediocrity (would you believe the playoff era started with Tommy Tuberville coaching the Bearcats and ended with him in the Senate?), but only 15 teams have reached the rarified air of the playoff, and these three account for 20% of them.