Clemson coach Dabo Swinney was on the defensive on Saturday when he explained why he placed Ohio State in 11th place in the latest coach poll, sparking criticism.
Swinney told ESPN that he believed that four teams were “punished” for playing more games. He had been adamant about teams that played only six games being prevented from playing in the College Football Playoff.
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“First of all, my vote doesn’t mean anything. But it means something to me, you know? It’s my poll. I do it. It creates a stir because we’re playing at Ohio State,” said Swinney on ESPN.
“It has nothing to do with the state of Ohio – absolutely zero. You can change the name to Michigan, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee or Nebraska. Whenever you are in the top 10 [ranking], it must be so special. This year is very, very, very special, and I wanted it that way. And so, I wanted to recognize the teams that played nine games or more. And so, if you haven’t played nine games, I just haven’t considered you for the Top 10. That’s why [the Buckeyes] were 11. “
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“Obviously, they are a great team. They are good and talented enough to defeat us and good enough to win the national championship. But in my opinion, I don’t think it is right that three teams have to play 13 games to win everything and one team has to play 8. What universe am I living in?
“And it has nothing to do with them. It was about qualifying. And I don’t think they were qualified, based on the number of games, against all these other teams. … In my opinion – Texas A&M, Florida, Oklahoma , Cincinnati – they were punished for playing more games. “
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Clemson won the ACC championship and was awarded the No. 2 seed and will play at Ohio State in the semifinals.