cincydawg said:
Usually, I think the Final Four is comprised of three teams in the preseason top ten and one from the next ten.
UGA was the outlier last year.
Besides preseason rankings, top 10 team talent + top 20 athletics revenue seems critical in earning a spot in the CFP Final Four and winning national championships:
In the 2017 college football team talent rankings (based on the 247Sports composite), Alabama was ranked #1, UGA #4, Clemson #9, and Oklahoma #16. Despite the relative lack of talent, Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield (and the NFL's #1 overall draft pick) propelled the Sooners into the CFP.
Since 2005 no team has won the FBS national championship when ranked outside the top 20 in total athletic revenue.