Clemson's Dabo Swinney Ranks Ohio State 11th in Coaches Poll

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney backed up his statement on Ohio State not playing enough games to be in the College Football Playoff by ranking the Buckeyes outside his top-10 in the USA Today Coaches Poll.

Dabo Swinney publicly said he doesn't think Ohio State played enough games to be considered for the College Football Playoff. 

Not that other rankings necessarily are a factor, the Clemson head coach backed up those statements with his latest ballot in the USA Today Coaches Poll. 

Swinney ranked the Buckeyes 11th, behind teams like Florida, Iowa State, Coastal Carolina and Cincinnati. Alabama head coach Nick Saban also had Ohio State outside of his top-4, but the CFP committee had them third and in the playoff Sunday. 

Neither Dabo nor Nick Saban had Ohio State in the top four in their final Coaches Poll ballots.

Swinney had the Buckeyes at No. 11 👀 pic.twitter.com/iSX1c1LChW

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 21, 2020

This is going to play out on the field, though, as this is the team No. 2 Clemson will face Jan. 1 in the CFP Sugar Bowl semifinal game. Swinney said Sunday after the announcement that he has a "lot of respect" for head coach Ryan Day and his program. 

"If we are playing Ohio State, it's the playoff. You know it's a big postseason game," Swinney said. "I think Ryan does things the right way. We recruit a lot of the same guys. Just a lot of respect for their program. Ryan does an awesome job, has a great staff. Definitely a team we compete with not only on the field but in recruiting." 

His ranking of Ohio State is a stronger statement and a look into what Swinney thinks about his next opponent. The Tigers knocked off Ohio State 29-23 last year in the CFP Fiesta Bowl. 

This season, the Buckeyes only played five regular-season games because of a late start by the Big Ten and COVID-19 issues with both their team and opponents. But the league changed its rules to allow OSU to compete against Northwestern in the Big Ten title game, and the Buckeyes beat the Wildcats by 22 points. 

Ohio State has been in the CFP's rankings the entire season, so it wasn't a big surprise to see them in because of how much the committee thinks of this team. Swinney, meanwhile, is a tad-bit more bearish.