LSU
Won the 2019 College Football Playoff: LSU 42, Clemson 25. The 2019 LSU Tigers football team represented Louisiana State University in the 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Tigers played their home games at Tiger Stadium (nicknamed Death Valley) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and competed in the West Division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) where they were led by their third-year head coach Ed Orgeron. Many experts and fans have claimed that the 2019 LSU Tigers were the greatest college football team of the modern era. The team recorded seven wins over top-10 opponents (with an average margin of victory of 20 points against four top-5 teams) and benefited from the later NFL success of Joe Burrow, Justin Jefferson, and Ja'Marr Chase (Burrow finished 1st in NFL passing yards in 2024, and Chase finished 1st in WR reception yards while Jefferson finished 2nd in WR reception yards). LSU began the year ranked sixth in the preseason AP Poll, and were projected to finish second in the SEC West behind Alabama. The Tigers secured an undefeated regular season that included wins over top-ten-ranked teams Texas, Florida, Auburn, and Alabama. In the SEC Championship Game, LSU defeated Georgia to win their first conference title since 2011. LSU was ranked No. 1 in the final College Football Playoff rankings of the season, earning them a spot in the national semi-final game to be played at the Peach Bowl. They dominated fourth-ranked Oklahoma in that game, 63–28, to advance to the CFP Championship Game. There, they defeated the defending national champions Clemson, 42–25, to secure LSU's fourth national title in school history, the second undefeated champion in the CFP era, and the second 15–0 season among any team in the modern era. LSU's record-setting offense was led by senior quarterback Joe Burrow, who won the Heisman Trophy by the largest margin in the history of the award, and broke several NCAA FBS records, including most touchdown passes (60), and highest quarterback rating (202.0). He was accompanied on offense by 1,400-yard running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, and two 1,500-yard receivers and future multi-time NFL Pro Bowlers, Ja'Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson, with the former winning the Biletnikoff Award as the best wide receiver in the country. The Tigers' offensive line won the Joe Moore Award as the nation's best offensive line unit. LSU's defense was anchored by two All-American defensive backs in Jim Thorpe Award winner Grant Delpit and true freshman Derek Stingley Jr. Linebacker Jacob Phillips led the SEC in tackles. Head coach Ed Orgeron was awarded several national Coach of the Year honors. On the season, the Tigers outscored their opponents by a combined total of 726 to 328. Owing to their dominant performance against a historically difficult schedule, several pundits have called the team one of the greatest in college football history. Wiki link