Following Georgia’s dominating 65-7 win over TCU in the College Football Playoff national championship, College Football Coaches from around the nation unanimously ranked the Bulldogs No. 1 in USA Today’s final coaches poll released Wednesday.
Less unanimous was where the Horned Frogs fell within the Top 25. TCU’s ranking was less unified as seven out of 63 coaches ranked the Horned Frogs lower than second. Five coaches ranked TCU outside the top 4.
UTEP head coach Dana Dimel ranked TCU lowest, putting the Horned Frogs at No. 9 in the rankings. Dimel’s top four teams were Georgia, Alabama, Michigan and Ohio State.
Marcus Freeman of Notre Dame, Boston College’s Jeff Hafley and Pittsburgh’s Pat Narduzzi each ranked the Horned Frogs No. 5 while Will Hall of Southern Mississippi has TCU ranked at No. 6.
Rhett Lashlee of SMU ranked TCU No. 4 along with Kent State’s Sean Lewis and Greg Schiano of Rutgers.
Nick Saban ranked the Crimson Tide second but had the Horned Frogs at No. 3, as did Utah State head coach Blake Anderson, Akron’s Joe Moorhead and Brent Pry of Virginia Tech.
Among the 51 head coaches that ranked TCU No. 2 were Texas Tech’s Joey McGuire, the Bulldogs’ Kirby Smart and, of course, TCU head coach Sonny Dykes.
The Horned Frogs were 13-1 and ranked No. 3 heading into the College Football Playoff semifinals. TCU upended Big Ten champion Michigan, 51-45, in the Fiesta Bowl to advance to the CFP title game before Georgia ran off with the national championship title.
Head football coaches final ranking of TCU
| Coach, School | Where they ranked TCU |
|---|---|
| Tim Albin, Ohio | No. 2 |
| Tom Allen, Indiana | No. 2 |
| Blake Anderson, Utah State | No. 3 |
| Marcus Arroyo, UNLV | No. 2 |
| Dino Babers, Syracuse | No. 2 |
| Mike Bloomgren, Rice | No. 2 |
| Brent Brennan, San Jose State | No. 2 |
| Neal Brown, West Virginia | No. 2 |
| Troy Calhoun, Air Force | No. 2 |
| Jamey Chadwell, Coastal Carolina | No. 2 |
| Dave Clawson, Wake Forest | No. 2 |
| Sonny Cumbie, Louisiana Tech | No. 2 |
| Kalen DeBoer, Washington | No. 2 |
| Jake Dickert, Washington State | No. 2 |
| Dan Dimel, Texas-El Paso | No. 9 |
| Dave Doeren, North Carolina State | No. 2 |
| Stan Drayton, Temple | No. 2 |
| Sonny Dykes, TCU | No. 2 |
| Mike Elko, Duke | No. 2 |
| Luke Fickell, Cincinnati | No. 2 |
| Jedd Fisch, Arizona | No. 2 |
| Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern | No. 2 |
| James Franklin, Penn State | No. 2 |
| Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame | No. 5 |
| Hugh Freeze, Liberty | No. 2 |
| Willie Fritz, Tulane | No. 2 |
| Danny Gonzales, New Mexico | No. 2 |
| Jeff Hafley, Boston College | No. 5 |
| Will Hall, Southern Mississippi | No. 6 |
| Thomas Hammock, Northern Illinois | No. 2 |
| Tyson Helton, Western Kentucky | No. 2 |
| Brady Hoke, San Diego State | No. 2 |
| Dana Holgorsen, Houston | No. 2 |
| Butch Jones, Arkansas State | No. 2 |
| Chris Klieman, Kansas State | No. 2 |
| Rhett Lashlee, SMU | No. 4 |
| Lance Leipold, Kansas | No. 2 |
| Time Lester, Western Michigan | No. 2 |
| Sean Lewis, Kent State | No. 4 |
| Mike Locksley, Maryland | No. 2 |
| Mike MacIntyre, Florida International | No. 2 |
| Chuck Martin, Miami (Ohio) | No. 2 |
| Joey McGuire, Texas Tech | No. 2 |
| Jeff Monken, Army | No. 2 |
| Joe Moorhead, Akron | No. 3 |
| Jim Mora, Connecticut | No. 2 |
| Billy Napier, Florida | No. 2 |
| Pat Narduzzi, Pittsburgh | No. 5 |
| Ken Niumatalolo, Navy | No. 2 |
| Sam Pittman, Arkansas | No. 2 |
| Brent Pry, Virginia Tech | No. 3 |
| Nick Saban, Alabama | No. 3 |
| Scott Satterfield, Louisville | No. 2 |
| Greg Schiano, Rutgers | No. 4 |
| Kirby Smart, Georgia | No. 2 |
| Jake Spavital, Texas State | No. 2 |
| Rick Stockstill, Middle Tennessee | No. 2 |
| Jon Sumrall, Troy | No. 2 |
| Jeff Tedford, Fresno State | No. 2 |
| Jeff Traylor, Texas-San Antonio | No. 2 |
| Mel Tucker, Michigan State | No. 2 |
| Kyle Whittingham, Utah | No. 2 |
| Ken Wilson, Nevada | No. 2 |
Find more college sports coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
