USA Today releases Mark Stoops’ final Coaches Poll ballot of 2023 college football season

The 2023 college football season is in the rearview mirror now, and with that, final polls have been released. That includes the USA Today Coaches Poll, which in turn released the final ballot from every coach who voted on it, including Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops.

There are more than a few interesting choices that Stoops made on his final ballot, including to have one team that missed the College Football Playoff ahead of two that made it, not including Louisville, and where he ranked all of Kentucky’s opponents from throughout the season.

So, here is the final Coaches Poll ballot from Mark Stoops for the 2023 college football season:

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

The first thing that jumps out on the list is that Mark Stoops didn’t include Louisville, despite the Cardinals winning 10 games and playing in the ACC Championship Game. Given that Louisville is Kentucky’s in-state rival, it’s easy to see where this might be seen as a purposeful snub based on the rivalry and not just because the Cardinals stumbled down the stretch.

While Kentucky didn’t end up in the Top 25 on Stoops’ ballot, there are plenty of the Wildcats’ opponents from throughout the season who did make it. Georgia, Alabama, Missouri, and Tennessee all made the final poll from SEC play. Then, Kentucky also had Clemson in its poll game.

A few other schools made the final rankings that Mark Stoops has some ties with. His brother, Bob Stoops, coached at Oklahoma while Mark himself played at Iowa in the 1980s.

Mark Stoops declines comment on if he wants Clemson to join SEC

There has been plenty of talk that some schools want to leave the ACC, including Clemson. One of the logical landing spots would then become the SEC. However, ahead of competing in the Gator Bowl, Mark Stoops declined to comment on if he’d want the Tigers to join the SEC.

“I really would have no comment on that,” Stoops said. “I don’t want to be reckless. Once I say one thing, that will be national news. I’ll stay away from that and focus on this game. A lot of respect for Clemson. But we’re really focused on this game. I’ll let people with higher pay grades than me make those decisions.”