Where Each Coach Ranked Notre Dame in the Final Coaches Poll

Looking through the US LBM Coaches Poll after Indiana's win over Miami in the National Championship a week ago, something stood out.

Of the 62 voting coaches, 50 ranked Notre Dame in the top 12, yet the Irish were left out of the 12-team College Football Playoff.

Indiana's Curt Cignetti ranked Notre Dame higher than any coach at No. 7, and 21 coaches had them in the top 10.

Coaches that put Notre Dame outside the top 12 include Missouri's Eliah Drinkwitz, TCU's Sonny Dykes, East Carolina's Blake Harrell, Florida Atlantic's Zach Kittley, Vanderbilt's Clark Lea, Buffalo's Pete Lembo, UConn's Jim Mora, Pittsburgh's Pat Narduzzi, West Virginia's Rich Rodriguez, Wyoming's Jay Sawvel, Tulane's Jon Sumrall, and UTEP's Scotty Walden.

Mora didn't stick up for his fellow independent, ranking Notre Dame No. 25. Walden was the only coach to keep the Irish out of the top 25 entirely. Of the 12 coaches that had Notre Dame outside the top 12, Mora and Walden were the only ones to rank the Irish outside the top 15.

Based on the 61 coaches that ranked Notre Dame, the Irish had an average ranking of 11.03. The CFP committee agreed Notre Dame was a top-12 team, too, slotting the Irish No. 11 in its final rankings. So in a 12-team field, how could the Irish be left out?

It's because the CFP finds itself in an awkward spot between objectivity and subjectivity. Unlike the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL playoff formats, the CFP committee wants to have it both ways.

They give teams a path to play their way in, which is why No. 20 Tulane and No. 24 James Madison received automatic bids as two of the five highest-ranked conference champions. Unranked Duke winning the ACC was a big reason for that, too, as only the top-10 ranked teams wound up making the 12-team playoff.

At the same time, the committee leaves enough room to pick and choose who it wants for the final seven at-large teams. This will always lead to debate and unhappy teams no matter the size of the field –– just ask bubble teams when the 68-team NCAA Tournament field is revealed on Selection Sunday.

This system led to a thrilling National Championship game, one competitive semifinal and a few entertaining quarterfinal and first-round games. Many would agree it's a step up from the four-team format, which was rarely exciting from start to finish, or the old BCS.

But is it perfect, or the best way to determine the champion? Looking through 62 coaches polls and seeing 50 with Notre Dame in the top 12 suggests not.

Here's where all 62 voting coaches ranked Notre Dame

Tim Albin, Charlotte: 9
Dave Aranda, Baylor: 12
David Braun, Northwestern: 11
Jeff Brohm, Louisville: 12
Fran Brown, Syracuse: 10
Troy Calhoun, Air Force: 12
Jason Candle, Toledo: 9
Ryan Carty, Delaware: 11
Jamey Chadwell, Liberty: 11
Bob Chesney, James Madison: 9
Curt Cignetti, Indiana: 7
Chris Creighton, Eastern Michigan: 11
Spencer Danielson, Boise State: 9
Ryan Day, Ohio State: 12
Kalen DeBoer, Alabama: 11
Manny Diaz, Duke: 9
Dave Doeren, North Carolina State: 11
Eliah Drinkwitz, Missouri: 14
Sonny Dykes, TCU: 13
Jason Eck, New Mexico: 9
Mike Elko, Texas A&M: 11
Luke Fickell, Wisconsin: 10
Jedd Fisch, Washington: 8
James Franklin, Penn State: 11
Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame: 9
Willie Fritz, Houston: 11
Alex Golesh, South Florida: 10
Thomas Hammock, Northern Illinois: 11
Blake Harrell, East Carolina: 14
Tyson Helton, Western Kentucky: 9
Charles Huff, Southern Mississippi: 10
Brent Key, Georgia Tech: 11
GJ Kinne, Texas State: 12
Zach Kittley, Florida Atlantic: 13
Tre Lamb, Tulsa: 11
Dan Lanning, Oregon: 11
Rhett Lashlee, SMU: 9
Clark Lea, Vanderbilt: 15
Lance Leipold, Kansas: 10
Pete Lembo, Buffalo: 14
Sean Lewis, San Diego State: 12
Mike Locksley, Maryland: 11
Chuck Martin, Miami (Ohio): 8
Joey McGuire, Texas Tech: 12
Bronco Mendenhall, Utah State: 12
Jeff Monken, Army: 12
Jim Mora, UConn: 25
Eric Morris, North Texas: 12
Pat Narduzzi, Pittsburgh: 13
Brian Newberry, Navy: 9
Ken Niumatalolo, San Jose State: 11
Gerad Parker, Troy: 9
Matt Rhule, Nebraska: 11
Rich Rodriguez, West Virginia: 14
Jay Sawvel, Wyoming: 14
Willie Simmons, Florida International: 10
Kirby Smart, Georgia: 12
Mark Stoops, Kentucky: 11
Jon Sumrall, Tulane: 15
Lance Taylor, Western Michigan: 9
Jeff Traylor, Texas-San Antonio: 11
Scotty Walden, Texas-El Paso: unranked

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