Big Ten Coaches Agree: The College Football Playoff Selection Committee Got the Field Correct

By 11W Staff on December 4, 2016 at 5:15 pm
Nick Saban and Urban Meyer prior to the 2015 Sugar Bowl.
Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
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Ohio State is in the College Football Playoff, and while most are fine with the Buckeyes, who didn't even play in their conference championship, making the field, there's a vocal minority who believe Big Ten champion Penn Sate should have been selected ahead of Ohio State.

There's certainly an argument to be made for the Nittany Lions, but it's interesting to see what league coaches think about the debate.

A look at the ballots from the final USA Today Coaches Poll of the year – where the Buckeyes finished second and the only set released for inspection/ridicule – four of the Big Ten coaches who vote in the poll, believe the College Football Playoff Selection Committee made the right call.

It's worth pointing out that the Coaches Poll does not really factor into the Selection Committee's deliberations, but here's how the five – Wisconsin's Paul Chryst, Maryland's D.J. Durkin, Penn State's James Franklin, Ohio State's Urban Meyer and Nebraska's Mike Riley – ranked the top of the league in their final ballots:

Coach First Second Third Fourth Fifth SIXTH SEVENTH
PAUL CHRYST – WISCONSIN ALABAMA OHIO STATE CLEMSON WASHINGTON MICHIGAN PENN STATE OKLAHOMA
D.J. DURKIN – MARYLAND ALABAMA OHIO STATE CLEMSON WASHINGTON MICHIGAN OKLAHOMA PENN STATE
JAMES FRANKLIN – PENN STATE ALABAMA CLEMSON PENN STATE OHIO STATE WASHINGTON MICHIGAN OKLAHOMA
URBAN MEYER – OHIO STATE ALABAMA OHIO STATE CLEMSON PENN STATE MICHIGAN WASHINGTON OKLAHOMA
MIKE RILEY – NEBRASKA ALABAMA OHIO STATE CLEMSON WASHINGTON MICHIGAN PENN STATE OKLAHOMA

Interestingly, Chryst and Durkin, the only two coaches in the league to face Ohio State, Penn State and Michigan, all had the Buckeyes above the Nittany Lions and Wolverines. Meyer and Franklin, as you can imagine, went with their teams, but still had enough respect for each other to include their rivals in the top four.

Looking across the top fours of other coaches outside, the league, Ohio State edged Penn State on the coach's ballots, save for a few. Washington State's Mike Leach and Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin, fans of conference champions, we can only assume, had Penn State above the Buckeyes.

Top Four of Selected national coaches
Coach First Second Third Fourth
BRET BIELEMA – ARKANSAS ALABAMA CLEMSON OHIO STATE WASHINGTON
JIMBO FISHER – FLORIDA STATE ALABAMA OHIO STATE CLEMSON WASHINGTON
TOM HERMAN – HOUSTON ALABAMA OHIO STATE CLEMSON WASHINGTON
BRIAN KELLY – NOTRE DAME ALABAMA CLEMSON WASHINGTON OHIO STATE
MIKE LEACH – WASHINGTON STATE ALABAMA WASHINGTON CLEMSON PENN STATE
GUS MALZAHN – AUBURN ALABAMA CLEMSON OHIO STATE WASHINGTON
CHRIS PETERSEN – WASHINGTON ALABAMA WASHINGTON OHIO STATE CLEMSON
MARK RICHT – MIAMI ALABAMA CLEMSON OHIO STATE WASHINGTON
NICK SABAN – ALABAMA ALABAMA OHIO STATE CLEMSON WASHINGTON
BOB STOOPS – OKLAHOMA ALABAMA OHIO STATE CLEMSON OKLAHOMA
KEVIN SUMLIN – TEXAS A&M ALABAMA CLEMSON WASHINGTON PENN STATE
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