ESPN’s Bill Connelly recently released a ranking of all 64 teams that have made the College Football Playoff.

Clemson’s 2018 national title team — which became the first major college football team in the modern era (and the first since Penn in 1897) to finish a season with a 15-0 record — comes in at No. 5 on ESPN’s list behind 2020 Alabama (13-0) at No. 1, 2019 LSU (15-0) at No. 2, 2022 Georgia (15-0) at No. 3, and 2023 Michigan (15-0) at No. 4.

“Clemson barely survived September unbeaten, needing a 2-point-conversion stop to escape Texas A&M and a rousing comeback led by backup quarterback Chase Brice to beat Syracuse,” Connelly wrote. “But once Trevor Lawrence was healthy and established in the starting lineup, no one had any hope against the Tigers. They beat Florida State by 49, Wake Forest by 60 and Louisville by 61, and they won two CFP games by a combined 74-19. Goodness.”

The other Clemson team to win a national championship in the CFP era — the 2016 squad that finished 14-1 and defeated Alabama 35-31 in an epic national title game battle — is ranked No. 11 by ESPN behind 2014 Ohio State (14-1) at No. 10, 2024 Ohio State (10-2) at No. 9, 2018 Alabama (14-1) at No. 8, 2017 Alabama (13-1) at No. 7 and 2021 Georgia (14-1) at No. 6.

“Clemson nearly lost to Auburn, Troy and Lamar Jackson’s Louisville team early and did lose to Pitt in mid-November,” Connelly wrote of Clemson’s 2016 team. “But as would become a Dabo Swinney custom, the Tigers turned into Angry Clemson after their loss, humiliating South Carolina, keeping Virginia Tech mostly at arm’s reach and shutting out Ohio State. Trailing Bama by 10 in the final, the Tigers played a nearly perfect fourth quarter, exhausting the Tide’s defense and scoring the title-winning touchdown with one second remaining.”

As for Clemson’s other CFP teams, the 2019 team (14-1) that lost to LSU in the national title game is tied with 2019 Ohio State (13-1) for No. 13/14 on ESPN’s list. Clemson’s 2015 team (14-1) that lost to Alabama in the national title game is ranked No. 20, while the 2020 team (10-2) that lost to Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl is No. 27 and the 2017 team (12-2) that lost to Alabama in the Sugar Bowl is No. 42.

The 2024 Clemson squad (10-4) that lost to Texas in the first round of the inaugural 12-team CFP is ranked No. 63.

“The first official bid thieves of the 12-team era, Dabo Swinney’s Tigers looked like their hopes were finished after an end-of-regular-season loss to South Carolina,” Connelly wrote. “But upsets elsewhere placed them in the ACC championship game, and they won the league with a last-second field goal. That gave them a shot at Texas in the CFP first round, and although they played well while behind, the game was never truly in doubt.”

Entering this season’s College Football Playoff, Clemson (7) is tied with Ohio State for the second most CFP appearances behind only Alabama (9), and the Tigers (6) rank third behind Ohio State (7) and Alabama (9) for the most wins in the CFP.