USA Today releases Nick Saban’s final Coaches Poll ballot of 2023 college football season

Now that the final Coaches Poll rankings are out, let’s dive in and take a look at how Nick Saban assessed the 25 best teams in the country for this past season.

Every single major poll has Michigan at No. 1, including the Coaches Poll, obviously, and Coach Saban complied with the masses and crowned the Wolverines as well. There really wasn’t much surprise at the top at all in his ballot, with the four College Football Playoff teams staying in order before Georgia slid in at No. 5

But with the final Coaches Poll being released, the ballots get exposed as well. The USA TODAY publicly showed how Saban voted in the final poll along with his coaching peers. Below, you can view his full top 25:

Nick Saban’s final Coaches Poll Ballot

1. Michigan
2. Washington
3. Texas
4. Alabama
5. Georgia
6. Oregon
7. Missouri
8. Florida State
9. Mississippi
10. Ohio State
11. LSU
12. Arizona
13. Penn State
14. Notre Dame
15. Oklahoma State
16. Oklahoma
17. Tennessee
18. Clemson
19. Louisville
20. North Carolina State
21. Kansas State
22. Oregon State
23. SMU
24. Iowa
25. Liberty

To nobody’s surprise, the Alabama head coach did give the SEC squads a slight positive nod compared where they actually finished. He’s got three of them in the top-seven, including an 11-2 Missouri team that handled Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl. Then, there’s Ole Miss and LSU at No. 9 and No. 11, just narrowly missing out on having the SEC make up 50% of the top-10.

Of course, Nick Saban also swallowed his pride and placed Texas over the Crimson Tide, even though the Longhorns lost in the semifinal to a Washington team that put up a far weaker fight vs. Michigan than his own club did in the semifinal. But his hand is sort of forced in that regard since Texas did beat Alabama on their home field earlier in the year.

For comparison’s sake, you can check out how the actual final College Football Coaches Poll of the season shook out right here.

What’s strange is that Nick Saban is actually a little lower on Georgia than consensus. He rated them at No. 5, sticking to the idea that the committee did award the four best teams with the Dawgs falling just outside. Meanwhile, the actual voters were so impressed by Georgia’s bowl dismantlement of Florida State that they had them leapfrog an Alabama team which beat them in the SEC title game.