TCU, Sonny Dykes hope to match results of previous College Football Playoff title game losers

ARLINGTON, TX – TCU became the seventh team to play for a national title since the College Football Playoff began during the 2014 season. The Horned Frogs were the first Big 12 team to qualify, and only the second program not named Clemson or Ohio State to qualify from outside the SEC, joining Oregon back in 2014. Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, and Clemson have accounted for 15 of the 18 national title game spots over the last nine years.

The eight previous national runners-up hold a combined 90-17 record in the year following the title game defeats. Oregon fared the worst, finishing the 2015 season at 9-4. Each of the other seven won at least 10 games. Two of those teams – Clemson following the loss to Alabama in 2015 and Alabama the following season – have rebounded to win national titles the year after a championship game loss.