No matter what format the college football postseason has presented fans over the years, controversy seems to follow.

And the College Football Playoff has been no different.

This season, there has been plenty of chatter about the 1st 2 polls of the expanded 12-team Playoff format. Just par for the course in this sport.

One of the wildest rankings of the bunch was in 2020, which saw Ohio State earn a bid despite playing just 6 games after the Big Ten altered its rules midseason to allow for the Buckeyes to be eligible. An 8-1 Texas A&M squad arguably had a gripe. The Aggies failed to reach the SEC Championship Game after an early season loss to Alabama, but they rebounded with 7 straight wins. And a number of undefeated Group of 5 teams such as Coastal Carolina, which had beaten a previously undefeated BYU team, were denied as well.

But let’s try to put 2020 in the rearview mirror permanently.

With the first 12-team playoff on the horizon, let’s take a look back at some of the more eyebrow-raising controversies from the 4-team era …

10. LSU (No. 2, 1st rankings, 2015)

The Tigers had 3 ranked wins to their credit when they were assigned the No. 2 ranking in 2015’s 1st batch. But 3 straight losses by double digits to Alabama, Arkansas and Ole Miss knocked the Bayou Bengals out of the Top 25 altogether before they finished No. 20 on selection day. That losing streak began questions around head coach Les Miles’ job status as the program suffered its first 3-game losing streak since 1999. The Tigers were undefeated and in national title contention 3 weeks prior before being outscored 99-47 in those 3 straight losses.

9. Texas A&M (No. 4, 1st rankings, 2016)

The Aggies went from No. 4 in the initial rankings to completely unranked by Nov. 22, and Kevin Sumlin’s squad finished the season with a loss to Kansas State in the Texas Bowl. A&M started out 6-0 with ranked wins over UCLA, Arkansas and Tennessee before being humbled by No. 1 Alabama on the road. An easy win over New Mexico State followed before back-to-back losses to the Mississippi schools. The Aggies would also lose to LSU before ending the season with a bowl loss to the Wildcats.

8. Oklahoma (No. 10, 2nd rankings, 2019)

The Sooners began the year as the favorites to repeat as Big 12 champions, and they won their 1st 7 games before being upset on the road by Kansas State. So when the Nov. 12 rankings came out, OU was stuck at No. 10. But Lincoln Riley’s team kept chipping away, including overcoming a 25-point deficit to beat previously undefeated Baylor, 34–31. In the league title game, OU defeated the Bears a 2nd time to earn a spot in the CFP. In the Peach Bowl semifinal, though, the Sooners were blown out by LSU, 63–28.

7. Utah (Unranked, 1st rankings, 2021)

This team was one of Kyle Whittingham’s best coaching jobs. It was a very difficult start to the season with the deaths of Ty Jordan and Aaron Lowe. The Utes started 1-2 and were unranked when the 1st set of CFP rankings came out. But they rallied and won their 1st Pac-12 championship since joining the conference, defeating Oregon, 38–10, in the conference title game. They ended up No. 11 on Selection Sunday and earned their 1st-ever appearance in the Rose Bowl, where they lost to Ohio State.

6. Mississippi State (No. 1, 1st rankings, 2014)

In the very 1st set of CFP rankings in its debut season, Dan Mullen’s Bulldogs were given the No. 1 slot after opening the season 9-0. It was the first 9-0 start in program history. The Bulldogs would hold that spot for 3 weeks before a loss to Alabama would drop them to 4th. Another setback to Ole Miss eventually made the Bulldogs tumble all the way to the 10th spot before finishing No. 7. They would finish the season 10-3.

5. Ohio State (No. 3, final rankings, 2016)

The Buckeyes, who finished the regular season 11-1, became the 1st team to make the CFP without a conference championship. Penn State, which was 11-2, won the league title and had a head-to-head win over the Buckeyes. Conference titles and head-to-head results were all the rage in 2014 and 2015, but the committee had a tough decision because OSU had very good wins at Big 12 champion Oklahoma and in its rivalry against a top-5 Michigan team. But the Buckeyes missed the B1G title game due to their loss to Penn State, which beat Wisconsin for the league title. The Nittany Lions weren’t able to overcome early season losses to Pitt and Michigan. Ohio State would go on to lose 31-0 to eventual national champion Clemson in the CFP semifinals.

4. Alabama (No. 4, final rankings, 2017)

The 11-1 Crimson Tide were given the final slot despite losing the Iron Bowl to Auburn, 26-14. The Tigers finished the regular season 10-2 and were ranked No. 2 before a loss to Georgia in the SEC Championship Game. This was the season in which UCF, which finished the regular season 12-0, finished just 12th in the final rankings before beating Auburn in the Peach Bowl. Ohio State also was in the mix after winning the B1G with a record of 11-2. Wisconsin, which lost the league championship game by just a touchdown, finished the year 12-1 and also had a case. Instead, the CFP debuted 2 teams from the same conference: the SEC. The Buckeyes were in a similar position at Penn State from the year before: a 2-loss, power-conference champion left out. The Crimson Tide, meanwhile, went on to win it all. Roll Tide!

3. Ohio State (No. 6, final rankings, 2018)

The Buckeyes finished the season with 5 wins against ranked teams and won the B1G championship handily over Northwestern, but a confounding 29-point loss at Purdue was too much for the selection committee to overlook as Oklahoma and Notre Dame made it in ahead of them. OU got in despite a loss to Texas in the regular season because it avenged that defeat in the Big 12 title game. Meanwhile, ND went undefeated with wins over 4 ranked teams, but the Irish would go on to lose 30-3 to Clemson in a CFP semifinal. The Buckeyes were stuck at No. 10 for 4 weeks before climbing to 6 but not getting any closer.

2. TCU (No. 6, final rankings, 2014)

The CFP’s 1st year certainly delivered some drama. The Horned Frogs (who finished the regular season 11-1) were ranked 3rd going into Championship Saturday. After beating a 2-10 Iowa State team 55-3, they dropped 3 spots, allowing Florida State (the only undefeated Power 5 team) and 12-1 Ohio State (which beat Wisconsin in the B1G title game, 59-0) into the Playoff. Ohio State had been No. 5 entering the weekend but destroyed the Badgers with 3rd-string quarterback Cardale Jones. The blowout win put the committee in a tough spot despite all 4 teams ahead of the Buckeyes (No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Oregon, No. 3 TCU and No. 4 FSU) also winning. No. 6 Baylor, which also won that weekend, was ranked 3 spots behind TCU despite having the same record and a head-to-head win. Remember that TCU did not boast an outright league title because the Big 12 title game had not yet been brought back. Of course, the Buckeyes went on to upset Alabama in the semifinals and Oregon in the national championship game.

1. Florida State (No. 5, final rankings, 2023)

In the final year of the 4-team format, the Seminoles became the 1st undefeated power conference team to be left out of the CFP. One-loss conference champions Alabama and Texas were ranked ahead of them by the committee on the final day. 13-0 FSU’s Heisman-contending quarterback Jordan Travis was injured near the end of the season, which likely had a major impact in the committee’s decision, while the Longhorns had a head-to-head win over Alabama. The Crimson Tide’s SEC Championship Game upset of unbeaten, 2-time national champion Georgia put the selection committee in a serious bind.