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Marcus Freeman ranks Ohio State No. 2, leaves TCU outside Top Four in final coaches poll

On3 imageby:Andrew Graham•01/11/23•

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TaxSlayer Gator Bowl - Notre Dame v South Carolina
JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA - DECEMBER 30: Head coach Marcus Freeman of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish celebrates with his team after defeating the South Carolina Gamecocks 45-38 in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl at TIAA Bank Field on December 30, 2022 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)

First-year Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman ranked his own team No. 15 in the final coaches poll ballot for the 2022 season and, frankly, that’s a fair enough mark for an Irish team that finished strong and won nine games. Some of the other choices Freeman made are sure to draw some further scrutiny.

While Freeman, like every other coach, voted Georgia as No. 1, he didn’t slot national championship game loser TCU into the No. 2 slot. Instead, Freeman voted Ohio State as the No. 2 team in his final coaches poll ballot.

Freeman, of course, played football at Ohio State in the early 2000s. But alma mater allegiances aside, there’s a fair argument to be made that the Buckeyes, a team which lost to Georgia by one point, is better than a TCU team that lost by 58 in the championship. Notre Dame also played the Buckeyes on the road in Week 1, the first regular season game for Freeman.

And with the Buckeyes slotted at No. 2, are the Horned Frogs third? Fourth? No, they are No. 5 in Freeman’s final ballot. While fellow playoff entrant Michigan — a team TCU beat in the national semifinals — ranks No. 4 for Freeman, Alabama snuck up and took the No. 3 spot for him.

The Crimson Tide did look impressive in thrashing Kansas State in the Sugar Bowl, but a majority of coaches kept the four playoff teams as the top four, albeit with varying orders.

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Freeman ultimately ranked four teams that Notre Dame faced in 2022: No. 2 Ohio State, No. 10 USC, No. 18 Clemson and No. 22 South Carolina.

Full final coaches poll ballot from Marcus Freeman

1.  Georgia
2.  Ohio State
3.  Alabama
4.  Michigan
5.  TCU
6.  Tennessee
7.  Penn State
8.  Washington
9.  Tulane
10.  Southern California
11.  Florida State
12.  LSU
13.  Oregon
14.  Oregon State
15.  Notre Dame
16.  Kansas State
17.  Utah
18.  Clemson
19.  Pittsburgh
20.  UCLA
21.  Mississippi State
22.  South Carolina
23.  Troy
24.  Texas Tech
25.  Duke

All told, not too wild a ballot from Freeman, but his choices around the top will surely be talking point until the next coaches poll.