The College Football Playoff has crowned twelve champions since replacing the BCS after the 2013 season. The format used four teams through 2023 and expanded to twelve beginning with the 2024 season.
Every Championship Game
| Season | Champion | Runner-up | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Indiana | Miami | 27-21 |
| 2024 | Ohio State | Notre Dame | 34-23 |
| 2023 | Michigan | Washington | 34-13 |
| 2022 | Georgia | TCU | 65-7 |
| 2021 | Georgia | Alabama | 33-18 |
| 2020 | Alabama | Ohio State | 52-24 |
| 2019 | LSU | Clemson | 42-25 |
| 2018 | Clemson | Alabama | 44-16 |
| 2017 | Alabama | Georgia | 26-23 (OT) |
| 2016 | Clemson | Alabama | 35-31 |
| 2015 | Alabama | Clemson | 45-40 |
| 2014 | Ohio State | Oregon | 42-20 |
Listed by season. The championship game is played the following January — the 2025 season title game took place in January 2026.
Titles by Program
| 3 | Alabama (2015, 2017, 2020) |
| 2 | Clemson (2016, 2018), Georgia (2021, 2022), Ohio State (2014, 2024) |
| 1 | LSU (2019), Michigan (2023), Indiana (2025) |
Indiana’s 16-0 Season
The Hoosiers won their first national championship in program history and became the first 16-0 champion since 1900 — a record only possible under the expanded twelve-team format, which adds games to the path.
Their quarterback, Fernando Mendoza, won the Heisman Trophy, also a first for the school. Detail is on our Heisman winners page.
Six Unbeaten Champions
Six teams have finished the playoff era without a loss: Clemson in 2018, LSU in 2019, Alabama in 2020, Georgia in 2022, Michigan in 2023 and Indiana in 2025.
Michigan’s 15-0 in 2023 came under the four-team format. Indiana needed 16 games because the bracket expanded. Our Michigan championships page covers that season.
The Format Change
| 2014-2023 | Four teams, two semifinals rotating among six bowls, then a championship game |
| 2024-present | Twelve teams, with byes for the top seeds and a guaranteed place for the highest-ranked Group of Five champion |
The expansion did what its supporters predicted. Indiana in 2025 and the first twelve-team field in 2024 both produced champions and finalists who would not have qualified under the old system — Notre Dame reached the 2024 final, and Miami reached the 2025 one.
Alabama’s Era
Alabama played in five of the first seven championship games and won three. Nick Saban’s seven career national titles surpassed Bear Bryant’s six, and the Crimson Tide have not returned to the final since 2021.
Clemson and Alabama met in four championship games in five years between 2015 and 2019, splitting them two apiece.
The Bottom Line
Twelve College Football Playoff champions since 2014. Alabama leads with three, followed by Clemson, Georgia and Ohio State with two each. Indiana won the most recent title at 16-0, the first unbeaten 16-game champion in the sport’s history and the school’s first national championship.