The College Football Playoff selection committee had the tough job of ranking the four teams to make the College Footbal Playoff over the weekend, putting Alabama at #1, Clemson at #2, Ohio State at #3 and Notre Dame at #4. Normally some discussion and healthy debate would take place in the days that followed that release on Sunday and we'd move forward without much drama.
...but then the USA Today Coaches Poll went public this morning, and oh boy.
Despite only playing 6 games, the Big Ten champion Buckeyes were in the playoff field for 53 of the 61 coaches who voted. Jamey Chadwell (Coastal Carolina), Butch Davis (FIU), Dana Dimel (UTEP), Jimbo Fisher (Texas A&M), Nick Saban (Alabama), and Gary Patterson (TCU) all had the Buckeyes just outside the playoff field at #5 with Kirby Smart placing them at #6.
Then there's Clemson's Dabo Swinney, whose squad drew the Buckeyes for their semifinal match up. Dabo didn't even put Ohio State in his top 10 teams, he put them at NUMBER 11!
Dabo clearly took issue with the number of games played by the Buckeyes, because in front of them on his ballot were Coastal Carolina, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Cincinnati, Georgia, Florida and Texas A&M before matching the Playoff Committee's top three choices.
You can bet that Dabo's poll is being posted on highly visible bulletin boards around the Woody Hayes football facility, and maybe even in each player's locker as they prep to take on the Tigers, now with an added chip on their shoulder. If Ryan Day and his squad are able to knock off Clemson, that presser afterwards is going to be must-watch TV.
While Dabo's poll was the only one to disrespect his direct opponent and provide them with some serious bulletin board material, there were plenty of other coaches who had some head scratchers on their final poll of the season.
Kirby Smart had a three-loss Florida at #4 in his poll, two spots ahead of Ohio State, and also ranked Auburn #16 after they decided to fire Gus Malzahn.
Perhaps understandably after getting handled by Clemson in the ACC title game on Saturday, Notre Dame was the other playoff bound program that saw a healthy amount of disrespect from fellow coaches. Hawaii's Todd Graham ranked the Irish #9 after the loss.
Yesterday, after learning that the Irish were in, Brian Kelly shared that if coaches were allowed to determine the playoff rankings, things would most certainly look different because coaches are the only ones that have the unique perspective of being in the grind of a season. While there is clearly little consensus among coaches in the profession, today's coaches poll certainly proves that.
This is the only week of the year where the results of each individual coach's ballot are revealed to the public, and after seeing the stir it has caused on social media, it's easy to see why.
Stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest in coaching news.