Dabo Swinney does not regret ranking Ohio State No. 11

Dabo Swinney does not regret the way he handled his final coaches' poll ballot.

Swinney infamously ranked Ohio State No. 11 in his final poll, which led to plenty of headlines. Swinney says the rankings were a matter of principle over the Buckeyes playing only six games.

Even after his Clemson Tigers got hammered 49-28 by Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl, Swinney defended his actions.

“No, I don’t regret any of that,” Swinney said when asked about the ranking following the game. “Polls have nothing to do with motivating. Both teams are highly motivated to play. And like I said, they’re a great team.

“That had nothing to do with Ohio State. I said they were good enough to beat us, good enough to win the whole dang thing. I didn’t think anybody that didn’t play at least nine games, in my poll, I wasn’t going to put them in the top 10. I wasn’t going to change that because there was a chance we would play them. So I don’t have any regret about that.”

Swinney then shared his one regret.

“The only thing I regret is I obviously didn’t do a good enough job getting my team ready.”

Swinney stands by his actions and his words. And when things don’t go well enough for his team, he takes responsibility like the leader he is. And even though his principled stand is admirable, perhaps he should reconsider whether the ranking contributed to Ohio State’s motivation for the game.