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Is #9 the highest ever for a 4 loss team?

I didn't really think of this when you originally asked but it is amazing how much this concept has shifted due to structural changes in CFB over the past few years.  
~50 years ago (1968) Ohio State won a NC with a Rose Bowl win at 10-0.  In that era the Buckeyes typically played nine scheduled games and then the Rose Bowl (that was the only bowl for a Big Ten team then) only if they won the conference.  It wasn't realistically possible to win the conference with four (or even three) losses so a four loss season meant 5-4.    
~40 years ago Ohio State typically played 11 scheduled games and bowls other than the Rose were possible but still relatively unlikely.  It wasn't likely to get a bowl invite at 8-3 so a four loss season generally meant 7-4.  
~30 years ago Ohio State typically played 11 scheduled games and a bowl was highly likely for a 7-4 or 8-3 team so a four loss season generally meant 8-4.  

~20 years ago Ohio State typically played 11 scheduled games and a bowl was a given for a 7-4 or 8-3 team so a four loss season meant 8-4.  
Starting seven years ago Ohio State played 12 scheduled games with the possibility of a B1GCG then there was also the fact that with the BCS and later CFP it became possible that a non-Champion Ohio State could get an elevated bowl as a replacement for the B1G Champion if said champion made it to the BCSCG or later CFP.  
Texas this year is a perfect example of all of these things.  They had 12 scheduled games including a "neutral site" OOC game in their opponent's back yard that they lost (Maryland) then they lost two conference games to good teams by a combined four points.  Then they had an extra game, the B12CG where they lost their rematch to a CFP-bound Oklahoma by 12.  Then they got an elevated bowl because they ended up being Oklahoma's replacement in the Sugar Bowl.  Prior to the CFP, Oklahoma would have been in the B12's Champion bowl and Texas would have had a lesser opponent but due to Oklahoma's CFP bid, the Longhorns got a better Bowl opponent and thus a better opportunity to prove themselves and improve their ranking.  
I think 10-4 with wins over Oklahoma and Georgia and three close losses deserves a top-10 ranking but it is odd to see a "4" in the loss column when looking at the top-10.  

Don't blame injuries. Other teams have them too, and Bama has a strong enough roster that there should be a pair and a spare ready to go at every position.

i wasn't making excuses. all those things happened, but they aren't necessarily why we lost. we lost because clemson was the better team. was trying to put the excuses to bed, they're not really valid in this instance. thought that was clear.

It's a fine line between "making excuses" and "analyzing" a loss. Injuries are certainly a part of the game and in a team sport with 85+ players on the roster, it's easy to say next man up, but it's also irrational to say that replacing a starter (or even role player) with the next person on the depth chart won't make any difference. The coaches choose the players they do for a reason.

And when a team makes uncharacteristic mistakes--or even characteristic ones at bad times--it's not making an excuse to point it out.

:-)

Sure, but when you pin your loss on an injury it just sort of implies that the other teams' injuries don't matter. 

It is kind of like blaming the zebras who probably blew a couple of calls at the other teams'expense as well.

Sure, but when you pin your loss on an injury it just sort of implies that the other teams' injuries don't matter.

It is kind of like blaming the zebras who probably blew a couple of calls at the other teams'expense as well.

Zebras can actually alter a game tremendously, with just a couple calls. 

again, what i think @rolltidefan was talking about in his original comment about injuries isn't in the usual sense.  
a corner literally fell on the field and left a receiver completely unprotected which resulted in six... this has nothing to do with bench and plugging another player in... this is DURING THE PLAY and is just a freak thing that it happened, and as a result of it happening- the score.  most injuries happen at the end of a play.  this one didn't- it happened mid play leaning toward beginning.  if there was no injury there likely wouldn't have been six scored on that play and the receiver either denied or dropped long before the end zone.  but that isn't how it happened.   it was simply a freak thing you just can't account for and may happen once in likely 1000+ plays.  

it was.
but if that one play doesn't happen like that, it doesn't really change the game much, imo.
we were only down 2 scores at that point, and it was a 3 and 12, i think, but unless things changed drastically, clemson had full control of that game by that point and i have real doubt we could have come back to win the way both teams were playing. maybe if the best case scenario for bama had happened (pick6), but that's about as unlikely as the actual play that happened.

It is astounding how dominant Alabama and Clemson have been over the past four years.  Since Ohio State's win in the inaugural CFP Championship there have been 12 CFP games, 11 have been won by either Alabama or Clemson.  The one exception was the one and only CFP game in the past four years in which neither Alabama nor Clemson was a participant (Georgia over Oklahoma in the 2018 Rose Bowl).  

Ohio State won two playoff games way back in 2014 and hasn't so much as scored a point in a CFP game since.  Nonetheless, Ohio State still has as many CFP wins as every other team not named Clemson or Alabama combined.  

Total CFP games:

• Oregon over Florida State
• Ohio State over Alabama
• Ohio State over Oregon
• Clemson over Oklahoma
• Alabama over Michigan State
• Alabama over Clemson
• Alabama over Washington
• Clemson over Ohio State
• Clemson over Alabama
• Georgia over Oklahoma
• Alabama over Clemson
• Alabama over Georgia
• Alabama over Oklahoma
• Clemson over Notre Dame
• Clemson over Alabama

So in 15 CFP games:

• Alabama has won six (two Championships)
• Clemson has won five (two Championships)
• Ohio State has won two (one Championship)
• Georgia has won one (no Championships)
• Oregon has won one (no Championships)

Team	Appearances	Semi-Final wins	Championships	CFP Games	Wins	Losses	Pct
Alabama	5	4	2	9	6	3	0.6667
Clemson	4	3	2	7	5	2	0.7143
Ohio State	2	1	1	3	2	1	0.6667
Georgia	1	1	0	2	1	1	0.5000
Oregon	1	1	0	2	1	1	0.5000
Oklahoma	3	0	0	3	0	3	0.0000
Florida State	1	0	0	1	0	1	0.0000
Michigan State	1	0	0	1	0	1	0.0000
Notre Dame	1	0	0	1	0	1	0.0000
Washington	1	0	0	1	0	1	0.0000