Indiana football beat Miami 27-21 on Monday night to become the fourth Big Ten team overall and the third in a row to win the national championship during the College Football Playoff era, joining 2014 Ohio State, 2023 Michigan and 2024 Ohio State.
The Big Ten’s run comes after the SEC dominated the first decade of the playoff, winning titles in 2015, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. But this year’s title game was the third in a row to not include at least one SEC team.
In becoming the first national champion since Yale in 1894 to go 16-0, the Hoosiers have a very strong case for being counted among the most successful teams in modern college football history.
When evaluating champs of the playoff era, though, IU faces stiff competition for the top spot from 2020 Alabama, 2022 Georgia and 2019 LSU.
1. 2020 Alabama (13-0)
In dominating the FBS with an unstoppable offense led by Heisman Trophy winner DeVonta Smith and quarterback Mac Jones, the 2020 Tide have a strong argument for counting among the top teams in modern history. Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, Alabama beat 11 SEC teams, Notre Dame and Ohio State, scoring at least 31 points in every game, at least 41 points in every game but two and winning every game by at least 15 points. This was a dominant group and coach Nick Saban’s best team, which says it all.
2. 2022 Georgia (15-0)
Close behind the Tide are the 2022 Bulldogs, the second of Kirby Smart’s back-to-back champs and the program’s first since 1980 to run the table. A suffocating defense was joined by an offense that ranked fourth nationally in yards per play. Georgia had five wins against opponents ranked in the top 15 and ended things with a 58-point destruction of TCU to become the first and only repeat champs of the playoff era.
3. 2019 LSU (15-0)
The offense will live forever in FBS history. Heisman winner Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, Clyde Edwards-Helaire and others formed an intimidating and explosive group that set a slew of school and conference records. LSU beat seven ranked teams, including Alabama and Georgia, but the Tigers didn’t really take off until beating Auburn on Oct. 26. From there, though, this team was an all-timer.
4. 2018 Clemson (15-0)
The 2018 Tigers put together what was then the most dominant two-game run in playoff history, beating Notre Dame 30-3 and Alabama 44-16. Freshman quarterback Trevor Lawrence put himself on the map with an epic game against the Tide, throwing for 347 yards and three scores. The Christian Wilkins-led defensive line is one of the most memorable in history. Overall, Clemson beat 12 bowl teams but didn’t face the same strength of schedule as the other undefeated teams on this list.
5. 2025 Indiana (16-0)
The Hoosiers’ résumé is built on an incredible close to the year, which featured a win against then-unbeaten Ohio State in the Big Ten title game and playoff wins against Alabama, Oregon and Miami. Indiana was also led by the best player in school history in quarterback and Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza. But while the Hoosiers beat some good-to-very-good teams before that point, including Iowa and Oregon, the difficulty of the IU’s regular-season schedules pales in comparison to what the four teams higher on this list had to face.
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6. 2021 Georgia (14-1)
The Bulldogs did drop the SEC championship game to Alabama but avenged that loss by topping the Tide 33-18 in the national championship game. Moreso than the 2022 squad, the Bulldogs were defined by their incredible defense. Georgia allowed 10.2 points per game to lead the Bowl Subdivision and gave up just 16 touchdowns all season. But the offense didn’t have the explosiveness it did with Stetson Bennett’s improvement heading into the following season.
7. 2023 Michigan (15-0)
A flimsier regular-season schedule that featured only two legitimate contenders (Penn State and Ohio State) and many of the worst offenses in college football docks Michigan a bit, though there’s no doubt the Wolverines were a deserving national champion and one of the best teams in program history. The offense never received too much credit but married physicality with solid play from quarterback J.J. McCarthy. Defensively, Michigan took care of business in Big Ten play and proved itself by shutting down Washington in the title game.
8. 2016 Clemson (14-1)
Clemson played almost exclusively strong teams, with 13 of 15 opponents advancing to the postseason. But the Tigers played single-possession games against Auburn, Troy, Louisville, NC State, Florida State and Virginia Tech while losing to Pittsburgh, so it wasn’t always pretty. The Tigers are boosted by winning a classic against Alabama in the playoff championship game with Deshaun Watson’s memorable last-second touchdown pass to Hunter Renfrow.
9. 2015 Alabama (14-1)
The 2015 Tide closed out the year by beating teams then-ranked No. 1 (Clemson), No. 2 (LSU) and No. 3 (Michigan State), and there’s something to be said for that. But Alabama also lost to Mississippi in September and was not the most consistent bunch on offense, finishing the year ranked 49th nationally in yards per play and 46th in yards per carry. But this group stepped up when it mattered to win a 45-40 shootout against Clemson in the title game.
10. 2024 Ohio State (14-2)
The Buckeyes lose points for failing to play for the Big Ten title after losing (again) to Michigan. Ohio State also lost to Oregon earlier in the year, though it avenged that loss by blowing out the Ducks in the playoff quarterfinals. As the first champ of the 12-team era, the Buckeyes had to beat Tennessee, the Ducks, Texas and Notre Dame to finish atop the FBS.
11. 2014 Ohio State (14-1)
The first champs of the playoff era sneaked into the top four by demolishing Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship and then beat Alabama and Oregon. Ohio State deserves credit for getting it done after losing two starting quarterbacks (Braxton Miller and J.T. Barrett) and winning the final three games behind third-stringer Cardale Jones. But the Buckeyes were stunned by Virginia Tech in nonconference play, needed two overtimes to top Penn State and weren’t always reliable on defense.
12. 2017 Alabama (13-1)
The 2017 team comes in last as the first champion of the playoff era to not even win its own division. Despite dropping the Iron Bowl and the SEC West to Auburn, the Tide made the playoff as the No. 4 seed, beat Clemson in the semifinals and then topped Georgia 26-23 after making a halftime quarterback change from Jalen Hurts to Tua Tagovailoa, who tossed the game winner in overtime.