We can’t rewrite history.

On second thought, this is my column. I’ll do whatever I want. Today, I want to rewrite some history.

The first team 12-team Playoff has had plenty of takeaways, including the fact that the 2 teams playing for a title wouldn’t have even made the field in any previous era of the sport. In any other year of the 21st century, this Ohio State squad would’ve been seen as the scariest, most talented team that didn’t get into the field.

So it begs the question — which teams from 2000-23 could have won the title if they had been in the 12-team Playoff?

Obviously, we’re projecting a ton of hypotheticals with this discussion. We aren’t, however, assuming that a team that did play in a national title game or in a 4-team Playoff game would get some sort of a do-over. Those teams had their opportunities and they didn’t capitalize.

This is for the fan bases who were devastated by a ranking or an untimely loss that cost them a shot at a title.

And no, that doesn’t include 2024 Ole Miss. Sorry, Lane Kiffin. You had the 12-team Playoff and insisted that going 9-3 with a home loss to 4-8 Kentucky was worth overlooking. It wasn’t.

These teams were simply stuck in the wrong format and they could’ve won a title if they, like Ohio State and Notre Dame, had just gotten a seat at the table:

2023 Georgia

Why they could’ve won it all — 2023 Georgia had the single most untimely pre-Playoff loss of the 4-team era by dropping the SEC Championship to Alabama. If that team had lost at any other point in the season, it would’ve made the field as the favorites to become the first team to 3-peat since 1934-36 Minnesota. It would’ve had a chance to get Brock Bowers and Ladd McConkey some extra rest. It would’ve had to take down a battle-tested Michigan squad, though Kirby Smart dominated Jim Harbaugh 2 years earlier in the Orange Bowl. Take that for what it is. At the time, Smart also hadn’t lost to a non-SEC team since the 2018 Cotton Bowl, and he hadn’t lost to a non-Alabama team in over 3 years. Michigan might’ve been a team of destiny in the year of Connor Stalions, but as strange as it might sound, the Wolverines dodged a bullet when the Tide won the SEC Championship.

2016 USC/Penn State

Why they could’ve won it all — Is this a cop-out to include both 2016 Rose Bowl participants in the same spot? Sure, but both needed to be included because if they had both gotten into the Playoff in 2016, it wouldn’t have surprised me if either won a title. Penn State was even hotter than 3-loss USC, which flipped the switch once it turned to Sam Darnold and would’ve made the field as a 9-3 team. The Lions exploded with the Trace McSorley-Saquon Barkley version of the Joe Moorhead offense and it was loaded with future NFL guys who could’ve hung with anybody after that 2-2 start. And hey, 2 of James Franklin’s 4 career wins vs. AP Top 10 teams happened during that 2016 season. But USC did beat that Penn State team in an all-time Rose Bowl matchup to earn its 9th consecutive win to close the season, so it’s only fair to include both as true “what-if” title contenders.

2015 Ohio State

Why they could’ve won it all — I know, I know. That 2015 Ohio State team fell short of living up to the hype as the first unanimous preseason No. 1 in AP Poll history. That team had obvious “repeat” buzz after it felt like the 2014 squad returned nearly every meaningful contributor, including the initial 3-way quarterback battle for the ages between Braxton Miller, Cardale Jones and JT Barrett (Miller eventually switched to receiver just ahead of fall camp). For whatever reason, the Buckeyes’ uber-talented quarterback room never quite settled in until after it was stunned by a Connor Cook-less Michigan State squad in cold, rainy Columbus. But as we saw at Michigan and in the Fiesta Bowl against Notre Dame, Ohio State’s roster was as talented as there was in the 2010s decade. In a weird way, 2024 Ohio State feels like it’s taking advantage of the opportunity that the 2015 squad never got.

2014 TCU

Why they could’ve won it all — That’s probably the most frustrating development for TCU after Ohio State got the last spot. The Buckeyes ran with that opportunity en route to a title in what was a relatively favorable field that didn’t feature a vintage SEC team. Maybe TCU didn’t have the talent to win 3 or 4 consecutive elite matchups, but the Horned Frogs’ only loss was that wild 61-58 game at No. 5 Baylor, and the nation’s No. 2 offense was unstoppable all year. That included a 42-3 beatdown against Ole Miss’ No. 1 scoring defense in the Peach Bowl. Trevone Boykin had that unit rolling. TCU could’ve taken a page out of the Ohio State playbook and rode that to a title.

2013 Alabama

Why they could’ve won it all — What if I told you that the Kick-6 could’ve been to 2013 Alabama what Michigan’s flag-planting in The Horseshoe was to 2024 Ohio State? That’s an incredible what-if for all the obvious reasons. Alabama had won 3 of the previous 4 titles and was in pursuit of a 3-peat nearly a decade before Georgia attempted its 3-peat bid. That moment could’ve been a rallying point for the 1-loss Tide, who would’ve been a lock for a favorable path as the 5-seed. Florida State might’ve been dominant in the regular season, but that Auburn matchup in the title game went down to the wire (like seemingly every meaningful Auburn matchup in that blessed season). To that point, remember that Nick Saban disciples were still 8 years away from getting on the board against the G.O.A.T. Granted, it was Jimbo Fisher who eventually made that happen. Still, an Alabama-FSU title game would’ve been an epic clash.

2012 Texas A&M

Why they could’ve won it all — You had me at “Johnny Football.” If you can beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa late in the season as it was in the midst of its 3rd title in 4 years, you could’ve beaten anyone. A&M would’ve been an ideal 10-2 team to compete for a title. Even with an extended layoff, who would’ve stopped the combination of Manziel and that underrated defense? A&M faced 3 ranked foes away from home after suffering its 2nd loss and won by a combined 58 points. That included a 41-13 beatdown of Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl, AKA the “we hate Texas more than you do” game. If it were possible, Johnny Manziel’s legend would’ve grown even more in the 12-team field.

2007 Georgia

Why they could’ve won it all — Say what you want about the 2008 squad that started at No. 1 in the AP Poll and failed to deliver UGA its first national title in 28 years. That 2007 team set the stage for that with how dominant it was after losing at Tennessee in the first weekend of October. During that stretch to end the season, the Matthew Stafford-led Dawgs won 7 in a row and beat 4 ranked teams by double digits. Knowshon Moreno became a monster in the latter half of his redshirt freshman season and Georgia found its identity after its BCS title hopes ended. If there was ever a season for the 12-team Playoff, it was the historically chaotic 2007. Eventual-national champ LSU is still the lone 2-loss national champ of the BCS/Playoff era. In an alternate universe, that very easily could’ve been Georgia.

2006 LSU

Why they could’ve won it all — This is sort of the forgotten-about team at LSU because it was between title seasons in 2003 and 2007, and it was a 2-loss team that saw its title hopes end in the first weekend of October vs. eventual-national champ Florida. That was 1 of LSU’s 4 true road games vs. AP top-8 teams (!) that season. Nobody was more battle-tested than LSU. JaMarcus Russell took off down the stretch and became the No. 1 NFL Draft prospect. He was 1 of LSU’s 4 first-rounders in the 2007 NFL Draft, which was on full display when LSU pounded Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl. Florida fans will never want to admit it, but the idea of facing the latter-half LSU squad in a rematch could’ve absolutely stood in the way of the Gators’ national title.

2004 Auburn

Why they could’ve won it all — Um, because they never lost and still didn’t get a shot at the title despite coming out of the SEC? Need I say more? OK, I will. I’ll always argue that 2004 Auburn didn’t get a shot to play for a championship because 2003 Auburn got shut out by USC in the season-opener. That’s right. A headliner season-opening game from the previous year was why Auburn never overtook USC or Oklahoma, both of which went undefeated after starting No. 1 and No. 2, respectively. But the Cadillac Williams-Ronnie Brown connection was a revelation, as was DC Gene Chizik and the nation’s top-scoring defense. (Chizik left Auburn for Texas after that season, and his Longhorns’ defense was the unit that eventually stopped USC in that epic 2005 national title game.) Maybe there was no standing in the way of USC in the midst of its dynasty, but there’s no denying that Auburn would’ve been a much more challenging matchup for the Trojans than Oklahoma.

2000 Miami

Why they could’ve won it all — It’s among the most egregious title-game omissions ever. A 5-point loss at eventual-Rose Bowl champ Washington in Week 2 was the lone blemish for the Canes, yet they were left out of the BCS National title game even though they beat No. 1 Florida State and No. 2 Virginia Tech. The computers somehow favored FSU and Miami was left to take out all of its anger on Florida (both on the field and in the pre-Sugar Bowl fight on Bourbon Street). There’s zero doubt in my mind that 2000 Miami would’ve won either a 4-team Playoff or a 12-team Playoff. It set the stage for arguably the best team ever in 2001, but as any Cane from that era will tell you, that 2000 squad would’ve been unstoppable if it could’ve played for a title. As in, a national title and not just a state title like the one the computers lined up.