When the College Football Playoff (CFP) launched in 2014, it was supposed to bring more fairness and excitement to the sport. No more arguments about who the “true” top two teams were—now four (and now, 12) programs had a real shot at the title.
But the shift also revealed something else: some programs flat-out needed the CFP to have a shot at a national championship — and they took advantage when the opportunity came.
Looking back at the College Football Playoff era so far, it's easy to point at Alabama and Clemson as the two biggest winners. Alabama has eight CFP appearances and three national championships during that timeframe, while Clemson has seven CFP appearances and two national championships. However, if you look at the actual rankings, neither of those teams would've been affected if the BCS was still in place, at least not on the surface.
They were both ranked inside the top-2 in the country when they won their national championships, but that hasn't been the case with everyone in the CFP era.
Here are three programs that absolutely wouldn’t be where they are today without the College Football Playoff.
1. Ohio State Buckeyes
Nobody has cashed in on the playoff system quite like Ohio State.
The 2014 Buckeyes were the ultimate test case for the new format. Ranked No. 4 going into the playoff, they wouldn’t have even sniffed the BCS title game. But the CFP gave them a chance, and they went on a run for the ages—taking down No. 1 Alabama in the semifinal and crushing No. 2 Oregon for the national championship.
And then came 2024. With the new 12-team playoff format in place, Ohio State didn’t even win the Big Ten and still got in as the No. 8 seed. They beat Tennessee in the first round, upset No. 1 Oregon in the Rose Bowl quarterfinal, took down Texas in the semifinal, and capped it off with a 34-23 win over No. 7 Notre Dame in the title game.
In both cases, Ohio State just seemed to peak at the right time.
That’s two national titles—2014 and 2024—that Ohio State wouldn’t have even played for in the BCS era. No doubt about it, the Buckeyes are the biggest winners of the playoff format.
If we were still in the BCS format, it's entirely likely that Ohio State fans would still be looking back at 2002 as the last time their team hoisted the trophy.
2. Georgia Bulldogs
Georgia is a powerhouse now, but without the playoff, 2021 — the year where Kirby Smart's program would ascend to elite levels — might have ended very differently.
That year, Georgia didn’t even win their conference. They lost to Alabama in the SEC Championship and dropped to No. 3 in the final rankings. If we were still living in the BCS era, that loss would’ve knocked them out of national championship contention. Instead, the CFP gave them a second life.
They got into the playoff as the No. 3 seed, dominated No. 2 Michigan in the Orange Bowl semifinal, and then got revenge on Alabama in the title game with a 33-18 win.
Without the playoff, that story doesn’t happen. Georgia would’ve been another “great season, bad timing” cautionary tale. Instead, they walked away with their first national title in over four decades—and then repeated the following year in 2022 (that one, to be fair, they were the No. 1 seed and would've been in the BCS game).
But, you also never know the way that momentum shifts if it wasn't for 2021 to start it all. That’s the year that changed everything for Kirby Smart and the Dawgs.
3. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Notre Dame hasn’t won a national championship in the CFP era—but they’ve gotten close. And more importantly, they’ve had chances the BCS would’ve never given them.
In 2018, the Irish went 12-0 but finished No. 3 in the rankings. Under the old system, they would've been watching from home. But with the playoff, they got a semifinal shot (though it didn’t go great—they lost to Clemson 30-3). Same deal in 2020, when they finished No. 4 and made it into the semifinal before losing to Alabama.
And then came 2024, the year they finally broke through. As the No. 7 seed in the first 12-team playoff, Notre Dame took down Indiana, followed by No. 2 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, and beat Penn State in the Orange Bowl to reach the title game. Keep in mind that Notre Dame had lost to Northern Illinois early in the season and that would've been enough to eliminate them from national title contention in the past.
They ended up losing to Ohio State, but for a program constantly criticized for “not playing a conference championship game” or “never showing up in the big moment,” 2024 changed the narrative for the Irish, and that's thanks to the CFP.