Coastal Carolina claims a top-15 ranking in the final AP Top 25 Poll released Tuesday
Coastal Carolina’s breakout 2020 season has earned the Chanticleers a No. 14 national ranking in the final Associated Press Top 25 Poll that was released Tuesday.
The Chants finished the season 11-1 with a wild 37-34 overtime loss to Liberty (10-1) in their first bowl game, the FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl on Dec. 26 at Camping World Stadium in Orlando.
The season included two wins over top 25 teams, as the Chants defeated then-No. 21 Louisiana 30-27 on a last-second field goal on Oct. 14, and beat then-No. 8 Brigham Young 22-17 on Dec. 5 with a tackle at the CCU 1-yard line as time expired.
The Chants were scheduled to face Liberty that day, but the Flames were forced to cancel due to coronavirus cases within the program, and CCU and BYU agreed to play at Brooks Stadium just two days before the scheduled game.
The Cougars agreeing to fill in for Liberty allowed CCU to keep ESPN’s College GameDay show at the stadium that morning, which brought unprecedented national attention to the program.
The Chants also defeated four-time defending Sun Belt champion Appalachian State 34-23 on Nov. 21 with two touchdowns in the final 2:30, and kept their undefeated record alive with a 42-38 win at Troy in the regular-season finale, scoring a touchdown in the final minute after Troy took the lead with 1:20 to play.
Coastal was deemed the Sun Belt co-champion with Louisiana when the conference championship between the teams was canceled due to coronavirus cases within CCU’s program.
The ranking triggers a $400,000 bonus for Chadwell and his staff for an end-of-season top 25 ranking, according to Chadwell’s contract entering the 2020 season.
Alabama claimed the No. 1 spot in the final AP Top 25 Poll with its 52-24 win over Ohio State in Monday night’s national championship game.
The Buckeyes finished second, followed by No. 3 Clemson, No. 4 Texas A&M, No. 5 Notre Dame, No. 6 Oklahoma, No. 7 Georgia, No. 8 Cincinnati, No. 9 Iowa State and No. 10 Northwestern.
The unusual season in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic shined a spotlight on non-Power Five teams – 10 of CCU’s 12 games were on national TV – and the final poll included eight non-Power Five schools.
Cincinnati of the American Athletic Conference was the highest-ranked team outside of teams from the Power Five Conferences.
The Bearcats (9-1) suffered their only loss to Georgia in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta on a last-second field goal after building a 21–10 second-half lead.
They were the only team from the Group of Five conferences to be awarded a spot in a lucrative New Year’s Six Bowl, which the Chants believed they should have been granted by the College Football Playoff Selection Committee with their 11-0 regular season and resume.
BYU (11-1), an independent, finished 11th for its best final ranking since it finished fifth in 1995.
Louisiana (10-1) finished a spot behind the Chants at No. 15, marking the first time the Sun Belt has finished a season with two ranked teams.
Liberty (10-1) was 17th, and the poll was rounded out by Mid-American champion No. 23 Ball State, Mountain West champion No. 24 San Jose State and No. 25 Buffalo of the MAC.
The Chants also finished 14th in the USA Today Amway Coaches Poll, while Louisiana is 16th and Liberty is 18th. The coaches poll also featured eight Group of Five teams in the top 25.
CCU adding transfer
It appears Coastal will be adding an offensive lineman through the busy NCAA Transfer Portal this offseason.
N.C. State lineman Zovon Lindsay (6-foot-4, 291 pounds) announced on Twitter that he is transferring to CCU.
Lindsay redshirted as a freshman in 2019 and apparently did not play in 2020.
He was rated a three-star recruit – the No. 120 offensive tackle in the U.S. and No. 56 player in North Carolina by 247Sports – coming out of Trinity Christian High in Fayetteville, N.C., and chose the Wolfpack over offers from South Carolina, Virginia, Wake Forest and West Virginia, according to the Pack Pride website.
This story was originally published January 12, 2021 at 5:23 AM.
