The History of the Final Four
By: Ryan Moreland (@ryanmoreland)
We are down to the final four teams. This made me wonder about what teams have led in final four appearances. So I decided to break this down.
Before we dive in, it is worth noting that there wasn’t a final four until Season 5, when the playoff era of the CFSL started. Here is a complete breakdown of every team (current and former) that has had a final-four appearance, along with the number of appearances each has had.
| Rank | Team | Final Four Appearances |
| 1 | Miami | 9 |
| 2 | Texas | 8 |
| 3 | Alabama | 6 |
| 4 | Auburn | 5 |
| 4 | Kentucky | 5 |
| 4 | Oregon | 5 |
| 4 | USC | 5 |
| 8 | Notre Dame | 4 |
| 8 | Oklahoma State | 4 |
| 10 | Ohio State | 3 |
| 10 | Texas A&M | 3 |
| 12 | Boise State | 2 |
| 12 | Florida | 2 |
| 12 | Florida State | 2 |
| 12 | LSU | 2 |
| 12 | Michigan | 2 |
| 12 | North Carolina | 2 |
| 12 | Wisconsin | 2 |
| 19 | Clemson | 1 |
| 19 | Eastern Michigan | 1 |
| 19 | Georgia | 1 |
| 19 | Oklahoma | 1 |
| 19 | Penn State | 1 |
Miami has been the most consistently great team in the CFSL. They have made the Final Four nine times in 19 seasons. For those who are bad at math, that is nearly a final-four appearance every other season.
Alabama is the next team on the list that is still in the playoffs. They have made the Final Four in one-third of all seasons they have played, which is incredibly impressive. The tough part for Alabama is that those six Final Four trips have turned into zero National Championship appearances…yet. They still will have a chance to make that happen tonight.
Oregon’s five appearances put them near the top of the leaderboard. They will get back in this season after a long absence. Their last Final Four before this season was back in Season 12.
North Carolina made their Final Four debut last season. This puts them further down the list, but when you consider the fact that they haven’t been around nearly as long as the other teams, this makes it more impressive. Oregon has made the Final Four only 4% more often than the Tar Heels. And the fact that they have made back-to-back might be a sign of things to come.
