SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The "what ifs?" simmered gently in the Ohio State locker room after the 2016 BattleFrog Fiesta Bowl. The Buckeyes, fresh off a methodical and businesslike takedown of No. 8 Notre Dame, knew who they were after finishing a 12-1 campaign. They had tied a bow around a good season, but the problem was they were a great -- not good -- team.

At least in terms of pure talent.

Twelve players would be selected from the 2015 Buckeyes in the first four rounds of the NFL draft, and almost all of those guys are already starring, starting or at least seeing playing time for various NFL teams.

To a man, those departing Buckeyes said the same thing about their late-season stumble at home against Michigan State that cost them a chance to defend their national championship. They said they believed they were the nation's best team. They said it was their own fault for stepping on a rake.

Last season's Ohio State team, led by running back Ezekiel Elliott, missed out on the CFP after a late-season loss to Michigan State. Christian Petersen/Getty Images

And All-American offensive tackle Taylor Decker added this about the supposedly rebuilding program they were leaving behind.

"I think a lot of people are going to expect less than what they are going to be able to produce," he said. "There's not going to be a huge drop-off. ... There's so many guys who haven't played -- that's going to be a hungry football team. I think it will be a similar hunger to when we won it all."

So here we are as the No. 3 Buckeyes eyeball a date with No. 2 Clemson on Saturday in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl (7 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN App).

For the third consecutive season, Ohio State has finished the regular season with one defeat. In 2014, that didn't stop it from winning the national title. In 2015, it did. This fall, the young, hungry football team that Decker spoke about gets an opportunity to eclipse that mega-talented crew that fell short, despite nearly identical résumés: one loss coming to the eventual Big Ten champions.

The operative word being "nearly" identical. The 2015 team, a unanimous preseason No. 1, lost to the Spartans at home on Nov. 21, the second-to-last weekend of the regular season. The 2016 team, ranked sixth in the preseason, lost to Penn State on Oct. 22, with five games remaining with which to renew favor with the CFP selection committee.

"When you lose late, you pretty much know your dreams and goals have to change," Ohio State defensive coordinator Luke Fickell said.

That seems to be a quirk of the CFP system. Late losses are much more detrimental to a résumé than early losses, which can be overcome by seemingly peaking in November.

Well, not always. For example ... Clemson. The Tigers, who were ranked No. 2 in the preseason and shared many of 2015 Ohio State's lofty expectations, lost at home to Pittsburgh on Nov. 12 with just two games remaining in the regular season but still managed to catch the committee's fancy.

In fact, they didn't have nearly as much ground to make up after losing at home to an unranked team as the Buckeyes did the previous year when they lost to a top-10 team. Clemson only fell from No. 2 to 4 after losing to the four-loss Panthers. The 2015 Buckeyes fell from No. 3 to 8 after losing to the nation's No. 9 team.

"We didn't feel like we were out of it [when Clemson lost to Pitt]," Tigers receiver Mike Williams said.

That wasn't how Ohio State players felt after losing to Michigan State. Linebacker Raekwon McMillan didn't pause when asked which loss over the past two seasons hurt more, Michigan State or Penn State.

"Oh, man, Michigan State," he said. "I was crying walking off the field. We never should have been in that situation. I feel like we gave them a win. We went out there and dropped the ball."

Ohio State linebacker Raekwon McMillan said last season's loss to Michigan State felt more crushing at the time than this season's loss to Penn State. Photo by Kevin Abele/Icon Sportswire

Of course, the parallels aren't perfectly symmetrical. For one, Clemson was still able to go on and win the ACC title, which Ohio State couldn't in 2015. Michigan State, which got beat 38-0 by Alabama in a CFP semifinal last year, finished the regular season with an identical record to the Buckeyes, while Penn State lost twice -- to Pittsburgh and by 39 points to Michigan, who Ohio State beat to conclude the regular season.

As for comparing Ohio State in 2015 to Clemson this year, there's also a major difference. The Buckeyes were coming off a national title season. Clemson entered 2016 suffering from the bitter taste of coming close but falling short against Alabama in the title game.

"It's tough coming off a championship run," Ohio State center Pat Elflein said. "Expectations were so high. Then coming into this year, the expectations weren't that high. That's different."

Clemson was the surprise team in 2015. It entered the season ranked 12th after a 10-3 campaign the previous year.

"Last year, we didn't know what to expect," Williams said. "This year, we'd been to the national championship. We knew what it takes to get there. It's a different mindset. We don't want to have that feeling we had last year."

Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said there was a "big difference" between the 2015 and 2016 preseasons, starting with experience and moving on to outside expectations. While a coach tries to make a positive team culture a constant, it's meaningful when only six starters return, no matter how glittering the star ratings of the upcoming, young players are.

"Half our team has never played in a bowl game," Meyer said.

Clemson and Ohio State both played postseason games in University of Phoenix Stadium last season. One won its game and was slightly miserable, the other lost but countered that misery with proof it belonged.

This year, Clemson, ranked No. 2 in the preseason, was expected to be here and made good on that expectation. Ohio State was a preseason uncertainty.

Said Elflein, "We're here, so we are obviously doing something right."

By the way, it's almost certain that Ohio State will begin next season ranked in the top four, projected to return to the playoff for a third time in four years.

"Have I thought about next year?" Buckeyes QB J.T. Barrett said, repeating the question, closer to coy than incredulous. "There's just so much right now."