I get OAM's point. If TCU and Georgia hadn't played well enough to defeat all of their opponents in September and October, they very well might not be playing for the championship in January.
But comparing a team's defense over all games in a season, is even more difficult than comparing them for single games late in the season, and we're already struggling just with that data alone.
I get his point too, I was just being a dick. But I said also has a point--winning a championship and getting to a championship are two different things, if we want to pick nits.
He and a couple others keep referencing 2019 LSU, and my main point is that either way, they needed a stout defense. No secret the defense had problems for several games, but even prior to rounding into championship form down the stretch, the D was crucial. Notably, LSU was in a back-and-forth with Florida, and may well not win if not for a key stop or two at the end (which made the score appear further apart than the actual game). Then there was Auburn, who held LSU's offense in check all day, but the defense would not let AU get much going either. They win by 3 because of the defense that day, more than the offense, imo. Then there's Alabama, where I've already noted I think the second half of that game was total BS, but it was what it was. And LSU clamping down on Bama for a half was absolutely vital to winning that game that wound up a 5 point margin.
Then, obviously the playoffs. Already mentioned the Clemson game, and prior to that the defense did a great job against OU, even though it's probably valid to argue LSU's offense wins that game even if the defense hadn't shown up. But OU kind of proves the point....they were explosive as was LSU, I think those were the 1 and 2 offenses that year. Why does LSU win comfortably? Because LSU had a defense, OU did not.
I think you still need a good-to-great defense to both be in position to win a NC, and then to actually win it. Is there a team we can point to that did it with a mediocre or poor defense? I can't think of one, off the top of my head.