Who has the most College Football Playoff appearances, championships?

The expanded College Football Playoff format has opened the door for several teams to debut in the postseason tournament.

The opening round of the inaugural 12-team playoff saw No. 6 Penn State, No. 9 Tennessee, No. 10 Indiana and No. 11 SMU play in their first-ever CFP games. And the quarterfinals will feature the introductions of No. 3 Boise State and No. 4 Arizona State.

But the CFP stage isn’t anything new to programs like No. 2 Georgia, No. 8 Ohio State and No. 9 Clemson. Those teams not only boast several playoff appearances, but they have also been crowned champions.

So, which programs have the most appearances in the CFP since it began? And who owns the most titles? Here’s what to know:

When was the first College Football Playoff?

The CFP debuted as a four-team event in the 2014-15 season. The first 10 editions of the CFP had four-team fields.

Who won the first College Football Playoff?

The inaugural playoff included No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Oregon, No. 3 Florida State and No. 4 Ohio State.

The fourth-seeded Buckeyes — a team that featured the likes of Joey Bosa, Michael Thomas and Ezekiel Elliott — were crowned champions after upsetting the Crimson Tide in the semifinal Sugar Bowl and crushing the Marcus Mariota-led Ducks in the championship game.

Who has the most College Football Playoff appearances?

While Alabama missed out on this season’s playoff, the Crimson Tide still boast the most all-time CFP appearances with eight.

Clemson sits second with seven appearances, including this season, followed by Ohio State with six. Georgia and Oklahoma have four appearances apiece, while Michigan and Notre Dame each have three.

Oregon, Texas and Washington are the only other teams to make the playoff more than once, all appearing twice.

Who has the most College Football Playoff championships?

Alabama also owns the most CFP championships with three. The Crimson Tide won it all in the 2015-16, 2017-18 and 2020-21 seasons. They also own three runner-up finishes, meaning they reached six of the first 10 championship games.

The Clemson Tigers, who were champions in 2016-17 and 2018-19, and the Georgia Bulldogs, who went back-to-back in 2021-22 and 2022-23, are the only other programs with multiple CFP championships. While Clemson was eliminated in Round 1 this season, Georgia still has a chance to tie Alabama’s record for CFP titles.

LSU, Michigan and Ohio State each won the CFP national title once.

College Football Playoff champions by year

Here’s a full look the CFP national championship game results by season:

2023-24: No. 1 Michigan over No. 2 Washington

2022-23: No. 1 Georgia over No. 3 TCU

2021-22: No. 3 Georgia over No. 1 Alabama

2020-21: No. 1 Alabama over No. 3 Ohio State

2019-20: No. 1 LSU over No. 3 Clemson

2018-19: No. 2 Clemson over No. 1 Alabama

2017-18: No. 4 Alabama over No. 3 Georgia

2016-17: No. 2 Clemson over No. 1 Alabama

2015-16: No. 2 Alabama over No. 1 Clemson

2014-15: No. 4 Ohio State over No. 2 Oregon

Here is how the new 12-team CFP will work starting in the 2024-25 season.