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ESPN - Ranking All 36 Teams to Make the College Football Playoff
Posted on 12/12/22 at 2:15 pm
Posted on 12/12/22 at 2:15 pm
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I'll list the Top 5 according to ESPN...
1. Alabama - 2020
The Crimson Tide had the Nos. 1, 3 and 5 finishers in the Heisman voting. They played one game decided by fewer than 14 points. They bested an SEC-only schedule by an average of 30.2 points per game. Their defense struggled early but allowed only 15 points per game after mid-October. This was the best Nick Saban team ever and quite possibly the best of the 21st century.
Best team ... from the best coach ... with the best dynasty of the 21st century (at the very least)? Sounds like the best team of the CFP era
2. LSU - 2019
Plenty of coaches have attempted to modernize their offense in the hopes of giving their program a shot in the arm. Ed Orgeron's 2019 team set the bar impossibly high for any future modernizers. With help from an elite skill corps, Joe Burrow threw for 5,671 yards and 60 touchdowns (!!!). Once LSU's defense got healthy late in the year, the Tigers were untouchable, beating Alabama in Tuscaloosa, then winning their last six games by an average of 30 points.
3. Clemson - 2018
Clemson barely survived September unbeaten, needing a 2-point-conversion stop to escape Texas A&M and a rousing comeback led by backup quarterback Chase Brice to beat Syracuse. But once Trevor Lawrence was healthy and established in the starting lineup, no one had any hope against the Tigers. They beat Florida State by 49, Wake Forest by 60 and Louisville by 61, and they won two CFP games by a combined 74-19. Goodness.
4. Georgia - 2022
The defending national champions have played six teams that currently rank in the SP+ top 25 and have beaten them by an average score of 39-13. They've scored at least 37 points in nine of 13 games and have allowed 14 or fewer in eight. They battled attention span issues during underwhelming midseason wins over Kent State and Missouri, but when they've needed to be awesome, they've been way more than that. A couple of big CFP wins would potentially lift them further on this list, too.
5. Georgia - 2021
Kirby Smart's Bulldogs were far and away the best team of the season's first three months, combining steady and efficient offense with college football's most consistently dominant defense in years. Only Bama scored more than 17 points on the Dawgs, who lost to the Tide in the SEC championship game but rebounded to pen a happy ending and, with help from a game-clinching Kelee Ringo pick-six, win their first national title in 41 years.
I'll list the Top 5 according to ESPN...
1. Alabama - 2020
The Crimson Tide had the Nos. 1, 3 and 5 finishers in the Heisman voting. They played one game decided by fewer than 14 points. They bested an SEC-only schedule by an average of 30.2 points per game. Their defense struggled early but allowed only 15 points per game after mid-October. This was the best Nick Saban team ever and quite possibly the best of the 21st century.
Best team ... from the best coach ... with the best dynasty of the 21st century (at the very least)? Sounds like the best team of the CFP era
2. LSU - 2019
Plenty of coaches have attempted to modernize their offense in the hopes of giving their program a shot in the arm. Ed Orgeron's 2019 team set the bar impossibly high for any future modernizers. With help from an elite skill corps, Joe Burrow threw for 5,671 yards and 60 touchdowns (!!!). Once LSU's defense got healthy late in the year, the Tigers were untouchable, beating Alabama in Tuscaloosa, then winning their last six games by an average of 30 points.
3. Clemson - 2018
Clemson barely survived September unbeaten, needing a 2-point-conversion stop to escape Texas A&M and a rousing comeback led by backup quarterback Chase Brice to beat Syracuse. But once Trevor Lawrence was healthy and established in the starting lineup, no one had any hope against the Tigers. They beat Florida State by 49, Wake Forest by 60 and Louisville by 61, and they won two CFP games by a combined 74-19. Goodness.
4. Georgia - 2022
The defending national champions have played six teams that currently rank in the SP+ top 25 and have beaten them by an average score of 39-13. They've scored at least 37 points in nine of 13 games and have allowed 14 or fewer in eight. They battled attention span issues during underwhelming midseason wins over Kent State and Missouri, but when they've needed to be awesome, they've been way more than that. A couple of big CFP wins would potentially lift them further on this list, too.
5. Georgia - 2021
Kirby Smart's Bulldogs were far and away the best team of the season's first three months, combining steady and efficient offense with college football's most consistently dominant defense in years. Only Bama scored more than 17 points on the Dawgs, who lost to the Tide in the SEC championship game but rebounded to pen a happy ending and, with help from a game-clinching Kelee Ringo pick-six, win their first national title in 41 years.
Posted on 12/12/22 at 2:17 pm to gamecockman12
Was waiting on this to get here.
#1 was obviously and easy pick, greatest team of the era.
Amazing that #2 seemed like a slam dunk all-timer only to immediately be surpassed.

#1 was obviously and easy pick, greatest team of the era.
Amazing that #2 seemed like a slam dunk all-timer only to immediately be surpassed.
Posted on 12/12/22 at 2:17 pm to gamecockman12
quote:
1. Alabama - 2020
quote:
2. LSU - 2019
First page
Posted on 12/12/22 at 2:17 pm to Pettifogger
quote:
Was waiting on this to get here.
I don't have a dog in the fight but I knew it would generate some discussion.

Posted on 12/12/22 at 2:18 pm to gamecockman12
quote:
1. Alabama - 2020
This team was so good that a rival fanbase wants the entire season to not count
Posted on 12/12/22 at 2:19 pm to Pettifogger
quote:
Amazing that #2 seemed like a slam dunk all-timer only to immediately be surpassed.

Posted on 12/12/22 at 2:19 pm to gamecockman12
Oh yes, the team that went 13-0 against teams that had multiple starters not playing due to covid is #1.
Definitely the best!!
Definitely the best!!
Posted on 12/12/22 at 2:21 pm to gamecockman12
Can't relate to anyone who has less than 2 teams in the Top 5.
Poors.
Poors.
Posted on 12/12/22 at 2:21 pm to PappaSwolio
quote:
Oh yes, the team that went 13-0 against teams that had multiple starters not playing due to covid is #1.
Definitely the best!!
At some point, especially now that it's officially official, you just have to take a step back and tip your hat to the victor
Posted on 12/12/22 at 2:21 pm to PappaSwolio
quote:
Oh yes, the team that went 13-0 against teams that had multiple starters not playing due to covid is #1. Definitely the best!!
One this is horseshite and two every team does this every year just because of injuries. So Georgias NC doesn’t count because Bama was missing two starting CBS and two starting WRs?
Posted on 12/12/22 at 2:22 pm to gamecockman12
quote:
1. Alabama - 2020
LOL. Alabama 2019 was better.
Posted on 12/12/22 at 2:23 pm to PappaSwolio
quote:
the team that went 13-0 against teams that had multiple starters not playing due to covid is #1.
Sorry but I busted this myth long ago
Only 6 of the SECs 65 2021 Draftees did not play Bama because of Covid. 4 of those went to LSU
Posted on 12/12/22 at 2:23 pm to gamecockman12
quote:
The Crimson Tide had the Nos. 1, 3 and 5 finishers in the Heisman voting.
quote:
They bested an SEC-only schedule by an average of 30.2 points per game.
Jesus Murphy that's some elite shite right there
Posted on 12/12/22 at 2:23 pm to gamecockman12
quote:
Alabama - 2020*
Fixed
Posted on 12/12/22 at 2:24 pm to Mulkey Man
Average Margin of Victory For SECCG + Playoffs
2019 LSU - 26.3
2020 Alabama - 17
2019 LSU - 26.3
2020 Alabama - 17

Posted on 12/12/22 at 2:24 pm to gamecockman12
2020 Alabama was so good that they couldn't fill their stadium to half-capacity.
Posted on 12/12/22 at 2:24 pm to Topwater Trout
quote:
Fixed
Haha touché.
Posted on 12/12/22 at 2:26 pm to Glorious
quote:
This team was so good that a rival fanbase wants the entire season to not count
It caused an entire Southern state to embrace cancel culture.
Posted on 12/12/22 at 2:26 pm to Glorious
The best offensive player in the country (Chase) and defensive player in the country (Parsons) skipped the fake season. No games in front of full road crowds (we saw what that did to Bama this year), no full opponent rosters. Mac Jones, oof. He would have been exposed in a real season.
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