In the final regular-season ballot of the USA Today Coaches Poll that was released on Sunday, Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi was just one of the many coaches on the panel that submitted their Top 25 teams in the country.
With Monday nights College Football Playoff showdown between Alabama and Clemson upcoming, it also served as a platform for coaches to essentially pick a favorite in the championship game.
While Narduzzi was just one of the 59 coaches on the panel, he was one of just two, and the only one not involved in Monday’s game, to rank the Tigers in the top spot.
Late Monday night, as Clemson was running away with the Tigers’ second national title in four years, Narduzzi let everyone know that his pick was a winner.
The Tigers went on to win, 44-16 in dominant fashion, and when the next poll comes out, there’s little doubt that Narduzzi will have some company in listing Clemson in the top spot.
It’s tough to feel too bad for Alabama, having also won the title in two of the last four seasons. They also must have had a pretty good idea of what they were up against coming into the game.
The only other coach to rank Clemson No. 1 at the end of the regular season? Alabama’s Nick Saban.
What a gracious winner Dabo was after the game. Giving credit to everyone but himself and even saying, “If we can do it everybody can.”