College Football Playoff rankings: Teams with most CFP top 25 appearances
College Football Playoff expansion is officially on the horizon, set to move to a 12-team format for the 2024 football season, and a larger field will naturally bring more teams into the rankings in years to come.
But since its inception in 2014, the College Football Playoff has predictably been dominated by the usual suspects. Alabama leads the way with seven appearances, or 19.4 percent of the total playoff entrants, followed by Clemson with six seminal appearances, and Ohio State is third with five playoff teams.
Which teams have dominated the official rankings up to now? Here's a look at the 10 teams that have posted the most appearances in the CFP top 25 poll.
T-9. Michigan
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College Football Playoff rankings appearances: 43
Average CFP Top 25 rank: 7.07
Highest ranking: No. 1
Michigan did most of its damage in the playoff rankings during the team's renaissance over the last three seasons, when it beat Ohio State thrice, won three Big Ten championships, and qualified for the program's first three College Football Playoff berths. In 2023, the Wolverines came in at No. 1 in the rankings for the first time heading into the semifinal.
T-9. Oklahoma State
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College Football Playoff rankings appearances: 43
Average CFP Top 25 rank: 16.05
Highest ranking: No. 5
Oklahoma State played its best defense and some of its best football in the 2021 season, with just eight point separating the Cowboys from being undefeated Big 12 champions. The Cowboys opened up at No. 11 in the first College Football Playoff rankings, moving up to fifth overall in time for the Big 12 title game, and landing at No. 9 going into an eventual Fiesta Bowl win.
8. Utah
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College Football Playoff rankings appearances: 44
Average CFP Top 25 rank: 15.98
Highest ranking: No. 5
Utah started 11-1 in 2019, with a one-TD loss against USC the only blemish. That was enough to earn a No. 8 spot in the initial CFP poll, bumping up to No. 5 and earning a berth in the Pac-12 Championship Game. A loss to Oregon there, and then to Texas in the Alamo Bowl dropped the Utes to 11th. Utah finished No. 11 in 2021 as three-loss Pac-12 champions, and fell to Penn State in the 2023 Rose Bowl as the No. 8 ranked team.
7. LSU
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College Football Playoff rankings appearances: 45
Average CFP Top 25 rank: 12.78
Highest ranking: No. 1
LSU has only made one semifinal, but you could argue it was the most dominant run of any team in the entire playoff era. Led by Heisman-winning quarterback Joe Burrow, the Tigers' historic offense ran through Oklahoma and Clemson in succession, outscoring the semifinalists, 105 to 53, en route to an undefeated record and the 2019 national championship.
6. Georgia
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College Football Playoff rankings appearances: 48
Average CFP Top 25 rank: 5.13
Highest ranking: No. 1
Georgia won a double-overtime Rose Bowl semifinal against Oklahoma, only to lose by three against Alabama in the national title game that year, but the Bulldogs made a comeback, in 2021 fielding a historically-dominant defense and, despite losing the SEC to the Crimson Tide, won its first national championship since 1980. And it wasn't a fluke, either: Georgia stormed back to a No. 1 ranking in 2022 as defending champs behind the school's first-ever 13-0 record as SEC champions, but fell out of the top four in 2023 after losing the SEC Championship Game.
5. Notre Dame
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College Football Playoff appearances: 49
Average CFP Top 25 rank: 10.04
Highest ranking: No. 2
Notre Dame ran the table in the regular season in 2018, opening up as the No. 4 team in the CFP poll, behind a one-loss LSU, but lost to Clemson, 30-3, in an overmatched Cotton Bowl semifinal. In 2020, the Irish went undefeated again, including a win over No. 1 Clemson, and stayed at No. 2 in the polls until the Tigers avenged their loss with a win over ND in the ACC title game. Alabama and Clemson outscored the Irish, 61 to 17, in two semifinal games.
4. Oklahoma
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College Football Playoff rankings appearances: 52
Average CFP Top 25 rank: 9.48
Highest ranking: No. 2
Oklahoma has made the playoff four times, including in Lincoln Riley's first three seasons, but is yet to win a semifinal game. OU played two overtimes against Georgia in the 2018 Rose Bowl semifinal, the year the Sooners achieved their highest ranking, placing No. 4 in each other College Football Playoff-qualifying year.
3. Clemson
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College Football Playoff rankings appearances: 54
Average CFP Top 25 rank: 7.43
Highest ranking: No. 1
One of the early dynasties of the playoff era, Clemson has made all but two semifinals, has won two national championships, played in two others, and lost in a pair of semifinal games. Clemson earned two final No. 1 rankings after victories over Alabama in two national title games, but the program has missed two straight College Football Playoff appearances, though in 2022 did win the ACC championship.
T-1. Ohio State
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College Football Playoff rankings appearances: 60
Average CFP Top 25 rank: 5.05
Highest ranking: No. 1
Ohio State won the first-ever College Football Playoff National Championship, qualifying as the initial No. 4 team and beating No. 1 Alabama in the semifinal and No. 2 Oregon in the title game. OSU was the No. 1 team in the CFP rankings for most of the 2019 season before getting jumped by LSU and losing by six to Clemson in the semifinal. In 2022, the Buckeyes made the College Football Playoff as the No. 4 seed despite not playing for the Big Ten title after USC lost the Pac-12 Championship Game, allowing the one-loss OSU team to move up, falling to No. 1 Georgia by a single point in the CFP Peach Bowl semifinal game.
T-1. Alabama
College Football Playoff rankings appearances: 60
Average CFP Top 25 rank: 3.45
Highest ranking: No. 1
Alabama earned the top spot in the fourth-ever CFP poll, and has been in every official poll since, including very often as the No. 1 team. Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide have won a record three CFP national titles, played in three other title games, and only missed one playoff, in the 2019 season (when it still posted Top 5 rankings in four of the six polls). Bama went wire-to-wire as the No. 1 team in 2016, 2018, and 2020 before missing the CFP as the No. 6 seed in 2022. The following year, a one-loss Alabama beat Georgia in the SEC Championship Game and secured the No. 4 position, somewhat controversially, since it leapfrogged an undefeated, ACC champion Florida State.
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