They were lucky to get there...If Brian Kelly doesn't lose his mind and go for 2 in the first half, ND beats them in Death Valley and they don't make the playoff more than likely.
Clemson wasn't 'lucky' but they were fortunate to have a such a great run a year or two before it was expected. In the ND game, Clemson essentially let their foot off the pedal and tried to get out of town in the 4th quarter. Let's not forget ND is a very good team too...Stanford misses that fg and they may have made the playoff.
That's like saying Bama is lucky to get there....Had Hunter Henry not thrown that ridiculous lateral backwards and the eventual score....Ole Miss beats Arkansas and wins the West - thus Bama likely being left out of it all.
I will add that teams do have to get lucky. Clemson gave Bama 2 gifts with the OJ Howard scores....just blown coverage...the last big play was a missed tackle and unfortunately for Clemson it was Mack Alexander's backup....Clemson missed him in the second half.