Only one coach ranked Ohio State lower, and that was Swinney, who ranked the Buckeyes No. 11 because they played only six games.
That decision is only a big deal, Swinney said, because now his second-ranked team is preparing to play the third-ranked Buckeyes at 8 p.m. Friday at the Superdome in the semifinals of the College Football Playoff. No. 1 Alabama plays No. 4 Notre Dame at 4 p.m. in Arlington, Texas, in the other semifinal.
“There’s no question Ohio State is good enough to beat us,” Swinney said. “They’re good enough to beat anybody (in the playoff). They’re good enough to be the national champion. That’s not a question at all. I didn’t rank anybody who didn’t play nine games or more in the top ten. Nobody. And then after that, I said, ‘OK, anybody who played at all, that’s how I will rank that group.’ And that’s why they were 11.”
This will be the third playoff game in the last five seasons between Ohio State and Clemson. The Tigers beat the Buckeyes 31-0 in the 2016 Fiesta Bowl and 29-23 last season in the Fiesta Bowl.
“I have all the respect in the world for Ohio State,” Swinney said, “and for people not to think that, I can’t do anything about that. I think the world of Ryan Day. We’ve talked many times. They’re a wonderful program. We recruit against them because I think we have a lot of similarities in how we go about our business. So there’s really nothing to it.”
The Buckeyes saw Swinney’s poll and were asked about it as well Monday.
“Obviously, we’re going to see that kind of stuff,” tight end Luke Farrell said, “but we’re really just trying not to let it affect our preparation for this game. We know what we’re capable of, so that’s all that matters. What matters is winning this game, so that’s that’s all we’re focused on.”
That’s all that matters to Day, too. Ohio State hasn’t reached the national championship game since the first playoff when it beat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl and then Oregon in the final. No players from that team remain, and Larry Johnson, Kerry Coombs and Mickey Marotti are the only members of the coaching staff still with the Buckeyes.
Day sees this game as being more about the current players and their journey than about the bigger picture of where Ohio State ranks among the national powers.
“This is about a bunch of guys who have just been through so much,” Day said, “and had the season canceled and restarted and then games canceled, and here they are right back to where they started a year ago to play Clemson again. It’s just an amazing story, and I think it’s more about them than it is a statement about where we are. We’ll see if we can all come up for air and maybe reflect on that in the offseason, but this is more about our culture and our team. I really would love for these guys to have something at the end of the end of the season, a big ring to show for everything they’ve done because they’ve sacrificed so much.”
NOTES: Ohio State guard Wyatt Davis and cornerback Shaun Wade were named first team All-Americans by the Associated Press on Monday. ... Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields said, “I’ll be good by Friday night,” when asked about the thumb he injured in the Big Ten Championship on Dec. 19. ... Day said “a bunch” of players have returned to practice this week, and he hopes they’ll play in the Sugar Bowl.
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