End of an era: 5 best games of the 4-team College Football Playoff

The four-team College Football Playoff era comes to a close this season — one season after it should have ended. It was far from perfect and left us with plenty of controversy over the years, but it's safe to say it was a better postseason format than the BCS that preceded it.

While there's an expanded 12-team field to look forward to next season, let's first look back at the best games of the four-team playoff era.

5. Ohio State 42, Alabama 35 (Sugar Bowl, Jan. 1, 2015)

The first game in College Football Playoff history was a blowout as Oregon dominated Florida State in the Rose Bowl. The second game produced a memorable upset that will go down in Ohio State lore.

The Buckeyes entered the playoff with preseason No. 3 QB Cardale Jones as the starter following Braxton Miller’s August shoulder injury and an ankle injury that JT Barrett suffered against Michigan. Jones led Ohio State to a 59-0 win over Wisconsin in the Big Ten title game to get the Buckeyes into the CFP and it was clear early that the No. 4 seed wasn’t going to back down from the No. 1 team.

Alabama took a 21-6 lead halfway through the second quarter after a TD run by T.J. Yeldon. Ohio State responded with four consecutive touchdowns. The run was capped off by a 41-yard pick-six by Steve Miller that gave the Buckeyes a 34-21 lead late in the third quarter.

RB Ezekiel Elliott sealed the game in the fourth quarter when he broke off an 85-yard run with 3:24 to go. The TD run sent the Ohio State fans in New Orleans into a frenzy as the Buckeyes went on to win the national title over the Ducks.

4. Alabama 45, Clemson 40 (National championship, Jan. 11, 2016)

The first title game matchup between the two powers of the CFP era produced the wildest fourth quarter in playoff history.

Clemson scored 10 consecutive points in the third quarter to turn a 21-14 Alabama lead into a 24-21 advantage for the Tigers as the fourth quarter began. Chaos ensued from there, as the teams combined for 40 points on seven scores.

Alabama opened the scoring in the final quarter with a short field goal with 10:34 to go. Then the fun really began. Nick Saban called for an onside kick after Adam Griffith’s field goal and the Crimson Tide recovered. Two plays later, Alabama had a 31-24 lead after a 51-yard TD catch by O.J. Howard.

Alabama stretched the lead to 11 with 7:31 to go after Kenyan Drake returned a Clemson kickoff 95 yards for a TD. But the Tigers didn’t go away. Clemson immediately responded with an eight-play drive that culminated in a 15-yard TD pass from Deshaun Watson to Artavis Scott that cut the lead to 38-33 with 4:40 to go.

However, Clemson’s defense couldn’t get a stop. Derrick Henry capped off the game-winning drive with a one-yard score with 1:07 to go. Clemson ended the scoring in the quarter with a TD with 12 seconds to go, but that was too late to do anything about the outcome of the game.

3. Georgia 54, Oklahoma 48 (Rose Bowl, Jan. 1, 2018)

The first overtime game in CFP history was an immediate classic.

The Sooners entered with the Heisman Trophy winner in QB Baker Mayfield, while Georgia had freshman starter Jake Fromm and a run game that featured Nick Chubb and Sony Michel.

Oklahoma got out to a hot start as the Sooners quickly led 21-7 and then 31-14 with six seconds to go before halftime. Georgia was able to get a long field goal before halftime to cut the deficit to 14 — and the kick proved to be a massive part of the game.

The Bulldogs scored three straight times to open the second half and turned the 17-point deficit into a seven-point lead when Fromm hit Javon Wims for a four-yard TD. Oklahoma tied the game with less than nine minutes to go when Mayfield found Dimitri Flowers and took the lead less than two minutes later when Steven Parker returned a fumble 46 yards for a score.

But the Bulldogs sent the game to OT when Chubb scored a two-yard TD with less than a minute to go. Oklahoma couldn’t get out of its own territory on its final drive of regulation and then the teams traded field goals to open overtime.

OU got the ball to start the second OT and Austin Seibert missed a 27-yard field goal. All Georgia needed to do was get a field goal to win, but Michel rendered any field goal irrelevant on the Bulldogs’ second play of the possession with a 27-yard TD run.

2. Clemson 35, Alabama 31 (National championship, Jan. 9, 2017)

The Tigers got their revenge 364 days later in another thriller.

Clemson got off to a sluggish start as Alabama jumped out to a 14-0 lead thanks to two long TD runs by Bo Scarbrough. The Tigers cut Alabama’s lead to 14-7 at halftime on a TD run by Watson and then closed the gap to three midway through the third quarter.

The Tide extended the lead to 10 with another long title-game TD to O.J. Howard. He caught a 68-yard pass from Jalen Hurts as Alabama went up 24-14 with 1:53 to go in the third.

Clemson took over from there. Watson hit Mike Williams on a four-yard TD to start the final quarter and Wayne Gallman gave Clemson its first lead of the game with 4:38 to go on a one-yard run.

Alabama’s offense wasn’t done, however. The Tide went 68 yards in six plays as Hurts rushed 30 yards for a go-ahead TD with 2:07 to go.

Maybe Alabama should have waited to score. Clemson had plenty of time — and nearly used every second of it. The Tigers went 68 yards in nine plays on their way to immortality.

A pass to TE Jordan Leggett set up first-and-goal at the Alabama 9 with 14 seconds to go. The first down pass fell incomplete and the Tigers got another first down on second-and-goal thanks to a pass interference penalty in the end zone.

With the ball at the 2-yard line with six seconds to go, Watson rolled to his right and found Hunter Renfrow just across the goal line for the game-winning score with a second to go for Clemson’s first national title of the playoff era.

1. Alabama 26, Georgia 23 (National championship, Jan. 8, 2018)

Alabama’s thrilling win over Georgia a year later took a long time to develop into a classic.

The Crimson Tide offense couldn’t do much of anything during the first half. Alabama got into the playoff that season despite missing the SEC title game and losing its undefeated season in a loss to Auburn in the final week of the regular season. But the Tide snuck in as the No. 4 seed and easily dispatched No. 1 Clemson in the Sugar Bowl.

Georgia jumped out to a 13-0 lead at halftime thanks to two field goals and a short TD run by Mecole Hardman. Alabama got the ball to start the second half as Saban made a QB change during the break, replacing Hurts with Tua Tagovailoa.

That first drive of the second half was a three-and-out. It was hard to see how Tagovailoa was going to turn Alabama’s fortunes around. But the Tide went 56 yards on seven plays on their next drive to cut Georgia’s lead to six as Tagovailoa hit Henry Ruggs for a TD. Georgia immediately responded with an 80-yard TD pass to Hardman.

Alabama slowly chipped away at the lead from there as its defense clamped down. The Tide got two field gals to cut Georgia’s lead to 20-13 with 9:24 to go. The defense forced yet another second-half punt after the second field goal and the Alabama offense went on an eight-play, 66-yard drive that culminated in a fourth-down TD pass from Tagovailoa to Calvin Ridley with 3:49 to go.

With the game tied at 20-20, Georgia punted for a fourth straight time and gave the ball back to Alabama with less than three minutes to go. But a game-winning 36-yard field goal as time expired sailed way left.

Georgia opened overtime with the ball and went backward thanks to a huge sack by Terrell Lewis. That led to a 51-yard field goal and a three-point lead.

Two plays later, Tagovailoa and DeVonta Smith formed the most improbable and iconic connection in playoff history on a 41-yard TD pass that gave the Crimson Tide a walk-off win.