Clemson finishes in Coaches Poll Top-5

Tavien Feaster and Travis Etienne formed quite a duo in the Clemson backfield.

by Brandon Rink - Staff Writer - Tue Jan 09 13:17:26 GMT-04:00 2018

Clemson finished in the top-5 of the USA TODAY Coaches Poll for a third-straight season.

The final poll released Tuesday afternoon placed the Tigers at No. 4, behind Alabama, Georgia and Oklahoma.

Clemson finished No. 1 in the 2016 final top 25 after capturing its first national title since 1981 and was placed No. 2 after finishing runner-up to Alabama in 2015.

This is a sixth-straight season Clemson has finished in the Coaches top-15, where five of those six have been top-10 campaigns.

Dabo Swinney’s Tigers have finished in the top-25 in seven-straight Coaches polls, finishing higher than the preseason rank in each.

Other notable rankings include undefeated Central Florida at No. 7, Auburn at No. 12, Miami at No. 13, NC State at No. 23 and Virginia Tech at No. 25.

Clemson had six wins over teams ranked in the top 25 by either AP, USA Today or the College Football Playoff Poll. That was the most in the nation and the most in a season in school history. Clemson has 15 top 25 wins (ranking entering the game) over the last three years.

USA TODAY Coaches Poll - Jan. 9

RANK TEAM RECORD POINTS

1 Alabama 13-1 1550 (62 first-place votes)

2 Georgia 13-2 1485

3 Oklahoma 12-2 1414

4 Clemson 12-2 1329

5 Ohio State 12-2 1304

6 Wisconsin 13-1 1223

7 Central Florida 13-0 1202

8 Penn State 11-2 1134

9 Texas Christian 11-3 1013

10 Southern California 11-3 904

11 Notre Dame 10-3 888

12 Auburn 10-4 885

13 Miami 10-3 769

14 Oklahoma State 10-3 757

15 Washington 10-3 706

16 Michigan State 10-3 682

17 Northwestern 10-3 543

18 Louisiana State 9-4 424

19 Stanford 9-5 354

20 Mississippi State 9-4 349

21 South Florida 10-2 285

22 Boise State 11-3 242

23 NC State 9-4 198

24 Memphis 10-3 149

25 Virginia Tech 9-4 96

Others Receiving Votes

Washington State 71; Troy 40; South Carolina 35; Florida Atlantic 35; Fresno State 35; Army 25; Iowa State 8; Utah 6; Wake Forest 3; Iowa 3; Appalachian State 2; Ohio 1; San Diego State 1.

List of Voters

The Amway Board of Coaches is made up of 62 head coaches at Bowl Subdivision schools. All are members of the American Football Coaches Association. The board for the 2017 season: Major Applewhite, Houston; David Bailiff, Rice; David Beaty, Kansas; Craig Bohl, Wyoming; John Bonamego, Central Michigan; Terry Bowden, Akron; Jeff Brohm, Purdue; Matt Campbell, Iowa State; Rod Carey, Northern Illinois; Mark Dantonio, Michigan State; Butch Davis, Florida International; Dave Doeren, North Carolina State; DJ Durkin, Maryland; Shawn Elliott, Georgia State; Larry Fedora, North Carolina; Luke Fickell, Cincinnati; P.J. Fleck, Minnesota; James Franklin, Penn State; Willie Fritz, Tulane; Justin Fuente, Virginia Tech; Bryan Harsin, Boise State; Clay Helton, Southern California; Tom Herman, Texas; Doc Holliday, Marshall; Mark Hudspeth, Louisiana-Lafayette; Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech; Joey Jones, South Alabama; Mike Leach, Washington State; Lance Leipold, Buffalo; Tim Lester, Western Michigan; Seth Littrell, North Texas; Rocky Long, San Diego State; Mike MacIntyre, Colorado; Gus Malzahn, Auburn; Derek Mason, Vanderbilt; Urban Meyer, Ohio State; Jeff Monken, Army; Philip Montgomery, Tulsa; Scottie Montgomery, East Carolina; Jim Mora, UCLA; Dan Mullen, Mississippi State; Pat Narduzzi, Pittsburgh; Ken Niumatalolo, Navy; Barry Odom, Missouri; Gary Patterson, TCU; Mike Riley, Nebraska; Rich Rodriguez, Arizona; Nick Rolovich, Hawaii; Nick Saban, Alabama; Tony Sanchez, UNLV; Mike Sanford Jr., Western Kentucky; Scott Satterfield, Appalachian State; Frank Solich, Ohio; Rick Stockstill, Middle Tennessee; Mark Stoops, Kentucky; Tyson Summers, Georgia Southern; Dabo Swinney, Clemson; Matt Wells, Utah State; Mark Whipple, Massachusetts; Kyle Whittingham, Utah; Bobby Wilder, Old Dominion; Everett Withers, Texas State.

Top 25 Notes (Via Clemson)

•Clemson has been ranked No. 1 in the nation at least once in each of the last three years. Alabama is the only other school that can make that claim.

•This was the 31st season Clemson has finished with a top 25 ranking in the AP poll.

•Clemson enters the 2018 season with a school record streak of 52 consecutive appearances in the AP Top 25 poll.

•This marks the eighth time in nine full seasons as head coach that Dabo Swinney’s Tigers have had a final top 25 ranking.

•This marks the eighth-straight odd-numbered season that Clemson has finished in the top 25 of both polls.

•Over the last seven years Clemson has appeared in 106 of 113 polls. That ranks third behind Alabama (113 of 113) and Oklahoma (109 of 113).

•Clemson defeated four teams that finish in the AP top 25. Those teams were No. 10 Auburn, No. 13 Miami (FL), No. 23 NC State, No.24 Virginia Tech. Clemson tied for first in the nation in victories over teams that finished the season in the top 25 of the AP poll. Clemson, Notre Dame, Alabama, Oklahoma, Georgia, Ohio State, UCF all had four wins over teams that finished in the top 25.

•Clemson’s schedule for 2018 includes home games against Furman, Georgia Southern, South Carolina, Louisville, NC State, Syracuse and Duke. The away games include Texas A&M, Boston College, Florida State, Wake Forest and Georgia Tech.