There has been one constant throughout College football Playoff era: blowouts. That’s the unfortunate nature of college football. It also makes us appreciate when we have an absolute banger, and it certainly makes them stand out.
In the 12-team playoffs, there will be more lopsided scores, but Texas And Arizona State showed us that there are still gems out there, no matter what the pre-game broadcast shows. Let’s take a trip down memory lane with the five best CFP games of all time.
1. Bowl of roses 2018: Georgia 54, Oklahoma 48 (2OT)
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This is the standard by which all other playoff games should be judged. No, it wasn’t for a national championship, but it was an absolutely box office football game in the most picturesque setting the sport has to offer. Lost in the end was the fact that Georgia had to mount a furious 31-17 halftime comeback against an Oklahoma offense that was walking the UGA dog down the field. Besides a substantial first-half drive, the saving grace for Georgia was a 75-yard touchdown run by Sony Michel that really kept them within earshot.
Georgia erased the deficit in the second half, ripping off 21 unanswered points, and the game entered a frantic fourth quarter. The teams scored two touchdowns each, including a scoop-and-score by Oklahoma, and headed into overtime, where Michel ended the game with a 27-yard touchdown run that will go down in history.
For all of Baker Mayfield’s Heisman exploits during the season, Rodney Anderson’s 201 rushing yards paced the Sooners. Georgia’s 11 carries for 181 yards from Michel and 14 carries for 145 yards from Nick Chubb were the shining moments for one of the great backfield tandems of the CFP era.
2. 2016 National Championship Game: Clemson 35, Alabama 31
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This was really the only classic play in the Bama-Clemson battles between 2016 and 2019. Perhaps we’d forget that the others largely stunk. Jalen Hurts should have made college football history for one of the most epic touchdown runs you’ve ever seen with just over two minutes left.
Instead, it was Deshaun Watson who took home the spoils after bringing down the Tigers in response and scoring with one second left to win Clemson’s first national championship since 1981 with a deployed pass to Hunter Renfrow (we’ll tell you Let’s hear about offensive pass interference, Bama fans). It was the night “Clemsoning” was finally put to bed and the Tigers reached the top of the college football mountain.
3. 2018 National Championship Game: Alabama 26, Georgia 23 (OT)
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Down 13 points at halftime, Nick Saban did the improbable when he benched Hurts, his starting quarterback, to insert a highly touted but fairly green freshman named Tua Tagovailoa. He steadied the ship and brought Bama back.
Tagovailoa almost wasn’t the hero as Andy Pappanastos missed a game-winning 36-yard field goal with three seconds left, but when the kick missed, the CFP title game went to OT for the first time .
Needing to score to keep the game going in the second half of the first overtime period, Tagovailoa took a sack that he said was the most upset he had ever seen Nick Saban – even after he more than made up for it secondly. -and-26 with the connection to DeVonta Smith to win the national title.
For Georgia, it was another heartbreak, as the long wait for another national championship seemed like it would never end.
4. Peach Bowl 2022: Georgia 42, Ohio State 41
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Georgia’s quest to become national champions again almost ended in the semifinals. Although Marvin Harrison Jr. left the game due to injury, Ohio State found itself up 38-24 heading into the fourth quarter.
After a long touchdown Stetson Bennett to AD Mitchell, the Dawgs got the go-ahead run with 54 seconds left. CJ Stroud had the third-longest scrimmage of his career to put Ohio State within reach of a long field goal. And at midnight sharp, the Buckeyes’ title dreams were dashed when the 51-yarder hooked the left as the ball fell in Times Square.
5. Peach Bowl 2025: Texas 39, Arizona State 31 (2OT)
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Recency bias be damned, the Peach Bowl had so many twists and turns. The Longhorns took a 14-3 lead almost immediately. It looked like Texas was about to experience another laugh in a 12-team format that had seen nothing but blowouts. The rest looked like rust for the Sun Devils, but Arizona State fought back, knocking on the door several times only to be turned away repeatedly by Texas in the red zone.
Cam Skattebo’s 284 all-purpose yards included a 42-yard touchdown pass, and the do-it-all back left it all on the field (literally, considering he vomited on the sideline at one point). Clearly gassed, he, quarterback Sam Leavittand a swarming defense buckled and willed the Sun Devils back into the game and eventually into overtime, but it ultimately wasn’t enough as the much-maligned Quinn Ewers showed up when it mattered most to take Texas to the semifinals.
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