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Penn State QB Drew Allar, Florida State QB Jordan Travis, and Ohio State kicker Noah Ruggles
Many college football teams come up just short in the national championship game, but at least they can say they had the chance to play all the marbles. However, some are haunted by a single play that cost them the chance to compete for a title.
These college football teams would have played in the national championship if not for one brutal play
The goal of any college football season is to win it all, and the only way to do that is to make it to the national championship.
Many methods have been used to decide a national champion. At first, voters decided a champion at the end of every team’s season. Then, in 1998, the BCS National Championship Game was created to eliminate controversy and crown a true national champion at year’s end.
But a new problem arose when more than two teams deserved a shot at the title. So in 2014, the College Football Playoff was born, and four teams would now have a chance to compete for a natty.
Finally, in 2024, the 12-team playoff was created to maximize TV ratings and eliminate any controversy over who the true national champion was.
But across all these editions of the national championship, one thing remained: some teams barely missed out. Whether they were left out entirely or blew it in the playoff, these teams came up just a play short.
2013 Alabama
The 2013 Iron Bowl featured one of college football’s most iconic plays: the Kick 6.
What gets lost in the remarkable return of the missed field goal is that it was Alabama’s only loss of the season. The Crimson Tide were 11-0 and the nation’s No. 1 team; a win would have secured a spot in the National Championship.
But instead, Auburn took their spot and went on to lose to Florida State.
2022 Ohio State
In 2022, Ohio State was 11-1, with their only loss coming against then-undefeated Michigan.
They qualified for the playoff as the four seed but faced a Georgia team defending a national championship and on a 15-game win streak going back to the previous season.
The Buckeyes played arguably their best game of the year, giving themselves a chance to win as time expired. Down 42-41, Noah Ruggles completely shanked the game-winning kick, and Ohio State was eliminated.
To salt the wound, Georgia would go on to annihilate TCU in the championship game.
2014 TCU
The 2022 season wasn’t TCU’s only chance to win a national championship in the four-team playoff era.
The inaugural year of the college football four-team playoff had some controversy on selection day. The first team left out was 11-1 TCU, whose lone loss came in a 61-58 thriller at Baylor.
The Bears kicked a walk-off, game-winning field goal in just the fifth game of TCU’s season, and it proved to be enough to keep the Frogs out.
To make matters worse for TCU, they would go on to throttle number nine-ranked Ole Miss in the Peach Bowl, 42-3, but it was too late for statement wins.
2023 Florida State
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Another team snubbed by the playoff committee was 2023 Florida State; however, unlike TCU, the Seminoles hadn’t lost a game.
The play that ultimately cost FSU their spot was a gruesome leg injury to their star QB, Jordan Travis, in what was essentially an automatic win over North Alabama; I will not include that video in this article for your sake, and I also don’t want to see it again when I search for it.
Florida State would win two more games without their starting quarterback and finish the year undefeated, but that wouldn’t be enough for the committee to let them in.
We’ll never know if the Seminoles could have won it all, but they were truly robbed of the chance.
2023 Alabama
The team that took Florida State’s spot in 2023 also came up just a play short of a National Championship game.
The Rose Bowl semifinal game featuring Michigan and Alabama went to overtime, and the Wolverines scored quickly. Bama needed a TD to tie, and on 4th and goal, Jalen Milroe was stuffed, and Michigan advanced.
That would end up being the last game Nick Saban ever coached, and Michigan would go on to win the National Championship in dominant fashion.
2017 Oklahoma
The Oklahoma Sooners came up just short of a national championship a few times, but none closer than their 2017 season, which ended with a heartbreaking 54-48 double overtime loss to Georgia.
The 2018 Rose Bowl is widely considered one of the best ever; the NFL talent on display and nonstop scoring created a very entertaining game. In the second overtime period, UGA needed any points to win.
Sony Michel was going off, so Georgia went with the Wildcat(dawg) formation, snapped it directly to him, and he ended the Sooners’ season.
Michel finished with 222 total yards and four touchdowns, but UGA would go on to lose to Alabama in the National Championship.
2024 Penn State
2024 Penn State went 11-1 in the regular season and came up just short in the Big 10 Championship. Thankfully for them, this was the first year of the 12-team playoff, so they still qualified.
They took their opportunity and ran with it, winning their first two games and advancing to the semifinal against Notre Dame.
The game was tied at 24, and Penn State had the ball. With under a minute left, they just needed a field goal to win, but quarterback Drew Allar threw an interception that flipped the field and immediately put Notre Dame in field goal range.
Notre Dame made the kick, eliminating Penn State. The Nittany Lions lost three games that year but never lost by more than a score.