NCAAF teams
Brett McMurphy, College football reporter 9y

#1QFor128: Coaches weigh in on playoff

No. 1 Alabama was the overwhelming favorite to win the College Football Playoff in ESPN’s weekly poll of the FBS head coaches, #1QFor128.

Also, nearly one-third of the coaches who voted believed the selection committee did not pick the best four teams for the inaugural playoff.

Of the 128 FBS head coaches, 107 participated in the poll, conducted by ESPN’s Brett McMurphy.

Alabama was picked by 60 percent of the coaches to win the playoff, followed by No. 2 Oregon (28 percent). No. 3 Florida State and No. 4 Ohio State each received 6 percent of the votes to win the national title.

In the semifinal matchups, Alabama was chosen over Ohio State by a 90-10 percent margin in the Sugar Bowl, while Oregon was selected over Florida State by 73-27 percent margin.

Of the possible title matchups in Arlington, Texas, on Jan. 12, Alabama-Oregon was picked by 67 percent of the coaches, followed by Alabama-Florida State (24 percent), Oregon-Ohio State (5 percent) and Florida State-Ohio State (4 percent).

The coaches who voted believed the selection committee correctly picked the best four teams (69 percent yes, 31 percent no).

The voting among the coaches from the Power 5 and Group of 5 conferences were fairly similar for the most part.

Despite Big 12 co-champion TCU falling from No. 3 to No. 6 in the final ranking, a higher percentage of Power 5 coaches believed the selection committee picked the correct four teams (72 percent yes, 28 percent no) compared to the Group of 5 coaches (67 percent yes, 33 percent no).

The biggest discrepancy was picking the Oregon-Florida State semifinal winner. Only 67 percent of the coaches from the Power 5 conferences (ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, SEC and Pac-12) who voted chose Oregon to beat FSU, compared to 77 percent of the coaches from the Group of 5 conferences (American, Conference USA, Mid-American, Mountain West, Sun Belt).

Another significant difference between the Power 5 and Group of 5 coaches was picking the national champion. Alabama was picked to win by more of the Group of 5 coaches (62 percent) than the Power 5 coaches (58 percent). Oregon had a higher percentage of Power 5 coaches (32 percent) picking the Ducks than the Group of 5 coaches (24 percent).

Also among the Group of 5 coaches, No. 4 Ohio State (8 percent) actually received more votes to win the title than No. 3 Florida State (6 percent). Of the Power 5 coaches, 7 percent picked Ohio State to win the title and 3 percent Florida State.

Vote breakdown

Did the selection committee pick the best four teams?

Yes: 69 percent

No: 31 percent

How the Power 5 coaches voted:

Yes: 72 percent

No: 28 percent

How the Group of 5 coaches voted:

Yes: 67 percent

No: 33 percent

Who will win the College Football Playoff?

Alabama: 60 percent

Oregon: 28 percent

Florida State: 6 percent

Ohio State: 6 percent

How the Power 5 coaches voted:

Alabama: 58 percent

Oregon: 32 percent

Florida State: 7 percent

Ohio State: 3 percent

How the Group of 5 coaches voted:

Alabama: 62 percent

Oregon: 24 percent

Ohio State: 8 percent

Florida State: 6 percent

Who will win the Rose Bowl semifinal?

Oregon: 73 percent

Florida State: 27 percent

How the Power 5 coaches voted:

Oregon: 67 percent

Florida State: 33 percent

How the Group of 5 coaches voted:

Oregon: 77 percent

Florida State: 23 percent

Who will win the Sugar Bowl semifinal?

Alabama: 90 percent

Ohio State: 10 percent

How the Power 5 coaches voted:

Alabama: 91 percent

Ohio State: 9 percent

How the Group of 5 coaches voted:

Alabama: 89 percent

Ohio State: 11 percent

Who will meet in the College Football Playoff final?

Alabama-Oregon: 67 percent

Alabama-Florida State: 24 percent

Oregon-Ohio State: 5 percent

Ohio State-Florida State: 4 percent

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