The clock struck midnight on the four-team College Football Playoff model with the conclusion of Monday’s National Championship Game between No. 1 Michigan and No. 2 Washington at Houston’s NRG Stadium.
The College Football Playoff will expand to 12 teams beginning with the 2024 season, although the exact formula for determining the number of automatic bids vs. at-large bids is still being finalized. Most expect the 12 participants will consist of five conference champions and seven at-large bids.
In the meantime, Michigan’s 34-13 victory over Washington signaled the end of a postseason model that should be remembered fondly by Clemson fans. Those fans witnessed two national championships under coach Dabo Swinney, as well as six straight ACC titles, and annual campus pizza parties on Selection Sundays that preceded wins over blue blood programs like Alabama, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and Notre Dame.
Between 2015-16 and 2020-21, the Tigers made a record six straight appearances in the Playoff. Only Alabama’s eight appearances in the four-team postseason topped the number reached by Clemson, a program that had less prestige and history next to its name than heavyweights in Tuscaloosa, Columbus, and elsewhere before the Tigers created their own run of dominance.
“Clemsoning?” Swinney’s program put an end to that phrase.
With all eyes turned toward the future 12-team Playoff, here’s a look back at some of the Tigers’ best performances in the now-defunct four-team model.