The Athletic posted the 12 team playoffs going back to 2016. 3 teams would have made it every year, and surprisingly, one of the 3 is not Alabama. The 3 are Clemson, Ohio State, and Oklahoma. Clemson is the only one of those 3 with a bye every year (OU and OSU both were not top 4 in 2016 and obviously Bama didn't even make the playoffs in 2019). The Little 5 teams were not always 12th, last year Cincinnati was 8th (Coastal also made it at 12 - keeping the Pac 12 out) and in 2018 UCF was also 8th. So they would have hosted a playoff game. 2020 the SEC had 4 and did in 2018 as well, but the Big Ten also had 4 in 2016. 2016 the SEC only had 1 team make the playoffs making the Big Ten the only conference with at least 2 teams every season. The Big Ten and SEC have the same number of births in the 12 team format since 2016. ND would have made it only twice, 2020 and 2018.