Ahead of this season’s College Football Playoff semifinals, CBS Sports ranked every semifinal team in the CFP era, which began with the 2014 season.

There have been 48 playoff semifinal teams in the history of the CFP, including this season’s group of Miami, Ole Miss, Oregon and Indiana. As for Clemson, the Tigers had six semifinal teams during their run of six straight playoff appearances from 2015-20 in the four-team playoff era.

So, where do those Clemson squads stack up among the best CFP semifinal teams all-time, according to CBS Sports?

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. 3 on the list behind a couple of other undefeated national champions — 2019 LSU (15-0) at No. 1 and 2020 Alabama (13-0) at No. 2.

“College football’s first team to 15 wins in the expanded playoff era, the Tigers won their second national championship under Swinney, marking the best team in program history,” CBS Sports’ Brad Crawford wrote. “Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne were obvious headliners, but Clemson’s defense truly carried this squad. Its entire starting defensive line was drafted, along with cornerback Trayvon Mullen. Clemson dominated most of its ACC competition during the 2018 season, beat Pitt by 32 points in the league title game and cruised past Notre Dame and Alabama to close it out.”

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. 9 by CBS Sports.

“The Tigers’ first consensus national championship since 1981 was fueled by an impressive season from Deshaun Watson, who delivered his best performance in the first-ever playoff title game rematch against Alabama,” Crawford wrote. “Ten of Clemson’s 22 starters earned first-team All-ACC honors — including offensive linemen Mitch Hyatt, Tyrone Crowder and Jay Guillermo. This wasn’t Dabo Swinney’s most complete team in the playoff era, but was close.”

The 2019 Clemson team (14-1) that lost to LSU in the national title game is ranked No. 11.

“One of more than half a dozen ranked teams exposed by national champion LSU during the 2019 campaign, Clemson nearly won a second consecutive title under Dabo Swinney,” Crawford wrote. “The Tigers’ 29-game winning streak ended despite Trevor Lawrence leading the ACC with 3,665 passing yards and 45 total touchdowns and Travis Etienne earning ACC Player of the Year honors with 1,614 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns. The team also featured Tee Higgins and first-team All-Americans Isaiah Simmons, A.J. Terrell and Tanner Muse on defense.”

Clemson’s 2015 team (14-1) that lost to Alabama in the national title game is ranked No. 15.

“Nick Saban still has nightmares of Deshaun Watson after Clemson’s sensational sophomore nearly carried the Tigers to a national title — which would come the following season when he led the ACC with 4,593 passing yards and 41 touchdowns before finishing runner-up to Lamar Jackson in Heisman voting,” Crawford wrote. “As the face of the 2015 team, Watson and Clemson remained No. 1 for the final five weeks of the regular season before a five-point loss in Arizona.”

As for Clemson’s other CFP semifinal teams, the 2020 team (10-2) that lost to Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl is No. 28 and the 2017 team (12-2) that lost to Alabama in the Sugar Bowl is No. 32.