<
>
EXCLUSIVE CONTENT
Get ESPN+

What's next for college football's top non-title game teams?

The 2020 season is now over for 125 FBS teams, and only one game remains. We will talk plenty about the upcoming College Football Playoff National Championship in the coming days, but with bowl season all but wrapped up, now's a good time to dive into some of college football's other top teams. Here's a look at the 10 teams, in no particular order, that played in CFP or New Year's Six bowls and aren't Alabama or Ohio State.

Notre Dame

2020 record and SP+ ranking: 10-2 and 16th (ninth in the preseason)

"We're going to keep getting back here, and everybody can keep saying Notre Dame is not good enough. Well, you know what? You're gonna have a problem because we're gonna keep winning games, we're gonna keep getting back here, and we're gonna break through. And then I'm going to be terrible to be at a press conference with. Terrible."

You can't really blame Notre Dame's Brian Kelly for being frustrated. He has built a program that about 120 FBS head coaches would trade for in a heartbeat. He recruits at a top-10 to top-15 level, and his teams produce top-15 performances more steadily than just about anyone. When his Fighting Irish have the right combination of QB play and overall experience, they win lots of games. They've finished with double-digit wins in five of the past six years, and this should be their second AP top-5 finish (or at least top-6 finish) in three years.

There's always someone quite a bit better, though.