NEW ORLEANS –– Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney ruffled quite a few feathers in Columbus, Ohio, when it was revealed that his final coaches poll slated Ohio State, his upcoming opponent in the College Football Playoff semifinal, all the way down at No. 11.

Swinney said Monday on a Zoom call with the media that he knew the poll would be public, and he also knew there was a good chance his Tigers would play the Buckeyes for a second-straight season, but that he simply felt six games was not enough for any team –– Ohio State or otherwise –– to deserve a spot in the top four.

“There’s no question Ohio State is good enough to beat us. They’re good enough to beat anybody of these four,” Swinney said. “They’re good enough to be the national champion, that’s not a question at all. I didn’t rank anybody who didn’t play nine games or more in the top 10. Nobody.”

Swinney said he actually voted the Buckeyes into his final top-four teams in 2017 ahead of Alabama. The Buckeyes were a two-loss Big Ten champion that season, and finished as the first team out of the CFP. Alabama was 11-1 and did not capture the SEC crown, but got into the CFP as the No. 4 seed.

“It’s not that they’re not good enough, I just don’t think it’s right that three teams have to play 13 games to be the champion and one team has to play eight,” Swinney said. “If people have a problem with that, I don’t really care. It’s my poll.”

Despite what the sentiment of his ranking may have suggested, Swinney said he has “all the respect in the world” for Ohio State, and that he’s talked to Buckeye head coach Ryan Day many times.

Swinney said Clemson recruits against Ohio State because the programs share similarities in how they “go about their business.”

However, Swinney doesn’t believe Ohio State can be given credit for games canceled against Maryland, Illinois and Michigan simply because the Buckeyes were favored to win big in each matchup.

“To just say, ‘Oh, well they would’ve won,’ I don’t think that that’s right. And so that’s nothing to do with Ohio State,” Swinney said. “If it had been anybody –– give me another 6-0 team, it would’ve been the same result. So people take it personal, but it’s nothing personal. At all.”

The Jan. 1 meeting between the two programs will be their fourth in eight seasons, with Clemson picking up victories over the Buckeyes in 2013, 2016 and 2019, the latest being last season’s 29-23 result in the Fiesta Bowl.

Swinney said on CFP selection Sunday that there is “absolutely” a rivalry brewing between Clemson and Ohio State, whether on the field or on the recruiting trail, but that didn’t stop him from creating a poll that he knew might turn some heads.

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“I absolutely knew that I would be the poster child for whatever,” Swinney said. Now “I could probably run for governor in Michigan and have a chance. Probably not very popular in Ohio.”