Maybe I'm missing it, but what about Great Teams that LOST the National Championship game? It doesn't appear to be stated, but there seem to be a lot of amazingly great teams that made it to, but lost the NC game.
1986 Miami team for example. The 1987 Fiesta Bowl was considered such a historic upset precisely because that '86 Canes team was so amazing. But I don't see them on this list.
Perhaps this is Top 25 best teams that never got a chance to play for the NC??