COLUMBIA, S.C. — Dabo Swinney knew that his decision to rank Ohio State outside of the top 10 in his final USA Today coaches poll would make national news and draw some criticism.
But Swinney said Monday that he stands by his ranking of the Buckeyes and that it was nothing personal against Ohio State.
His Clemson team is set to face OSU in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on New Year’s Day.
“I just don’t think it’s right that three teams have to play 13 games to be the champion and one team has to play eight,” Swinney said Monday during his press conference previewing the Sugar Bowl. “If people have a problem with that, I don’t really care. It’s my poll.”
Coaches’ final ballots are revealed each year after conference championship games are played. Swinney ranked the 6-0 Buckeyes No. 11 in his poll. It was the first topic he was asked about during his Zoom press conference on Monday, with a reporter who covers the Buckeyes saying Swinney’s ranking of OSU “has not gone unnoticed up here.”
Swinney said there was no gamesmanship or ulterior motive with his poll.
“You don’t think I know that’s going to be public? But to me, right is right. It’s not always easy to do the right thing,” Swinney said.
He mentioned Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Florida and Cincinnati as teams that “got punished because they played more games.”
“I didn’t rank anybody who didn’t play nine games or more in the top 10. And then after that I said, ‘OK, anybody who played at all, that’s how I’ll rank that group.’ That’s why they were 11th,” Swinney said. “You can change the name. ... If Southern Cal had been 6-0, I wouldn’t have had them in there. So no disrespect.”
Swinney said a couple of years back that he carefully fills out his ballot each week. He confirmed on Monday that he still does that.
“Every year I take it seriously, but especially this year,” he said.
While Swinney has Ohio State ranked outside the top 10, he made it clear that his ranking doesn’t mean he believes the Buckeyes can’t beat Clemson.
“There’s no question Ohio State is good enough to beat us,” he said. “They’re good enough to beat anybody out of these four. They’re good enough to be the national champion. That’s not a question at all.”
Swinney also made it clear he doesn’t believe the Buckeyes should be in the top four.
“These games matter. ... Guys can get injured, you can get beat,” Swinney said. “To just say, ‘Oh, well they would’ve won.’ I don’t think that’s right.”
