The College Football Playoff has yet to produce a real surprise team.
In four seasons, nine schools have reached the semifinals — and even the teams that came from outside the AP preseason Top 25 were traditional powers.
The lowest-ranked team in the preseason media poll to make the CFP was Oklahoma in 2015. The Sooners were 19th to start the season, mostly because they were coming off a disappointing season (8-5) and few knew how good Baker Mayfield would be.
Clemson made the playoff that same year after starting the season ranked No. 12. The Tigers went 10-3 the season before, but Deshaun Watson was a sophomore coming off a knee injury, there was major turnover on defense and exactly what Dabo Swinney was building at Clemson had not yet been fully revealed.