Dabo Swinney Stands By His Ranking Of Ohio State

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney ranked Ohio State No. 11 in the in the Amway Coaches Poll from USA Today, and he stands by that decision.

“There’s no question Ohio State is good enough to beat us, to beat any of these four [playoff teams] and be the national champion,” Swinney said.

“That’s not a question at all. I didn’t rank anybody who didn’t play nine games or more in the top 10. That’s why they were 11. I have all the respect in the world for Ohio State.”

For Swinney it wasn’t about trying to slight his opponent, but rather simply highlighting that it wasn’t fair to rank any team that hadn’t played a full schedule of games in the top 10.

“The games matter,” he said.

“I don’t think it’s right that Texas A&M and Oklahoma and Florida and Cincinnati got punished because they played more games. I know we can say they should be one of the best teams, but the game’s not played on paper.

“And in this year, every time you step on the field, you can get beat. That’s football. To say they would’ve won, I don’t think that’s right.”