While many experts felt Indiana should have been left out of the College Football Playoff, Middle Tennessee State football coach Derek Mason had high regard for the Hoosiers, even higher than Tennessee.
Mason, a former coach at Tennessee’s rival Vanderbilt, voted Indiana No. 8 in the final US LBM Coaches Poll, one spot ahead of the Vols. Indiana finished 10th in the coaches poll and UT was eighth.
Ohio State, which won the national championship game Monday, finished No. 1 and runner-up Notre Dame second in the final poll, which is where Mason ranked both.
Mason’s ballot was mostly similar to the way most coaches voted. The biggest exceptions were that he had Alabama at No. 11 (the Crimson Tide finished 17th) and had Ohio at No. 25 (the Bobcats finished 31st, receiving six total votes).
Mason completed his first season with the Blue Raiders, going 3-9.
He officially signed a five-year contract in August that ends in December 2028 with a base salary of $925,000 per year. There are several bonus incentives in the contract, as well as $75,000 annually for appearances requested by the university for radio, television, internet or any other medium.
The Blue Raiders will kick off the 2025 season at home against Austin Peay on Aug. 30. It will be the third in-state game and second against a former OVC rival since the former Vanderbilt coach took over the team.
MORE: Final US LBM Coaches Poll
MTSU football coach Derek Mason’s final US LBM Coaches Poll ballot
The US LBM Coaches Poll used a panel of head coaches at Football Bowl Subdivision schools. The panel was chosen by random draw, conference by conference plus independents, from a pool of coaches who have indicated to the American Football Coaches Association their willingness to participate. Each coach submits a Top 25 with a first-place vote worth 25 points, second place 24, and so on down to one point for 25th.
Below is how Mason voted in the final US LBM Coaches Poll, which was released Tuesday.
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Ohio State
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Notre Dame
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Oregon
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Texas
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Penn State
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Arizona State
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Georgia
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Indiana
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Tennessee
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Boise State
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Alabama
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SMU
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Clemson
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Iowa State
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Ole Miss
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Miami (Fla.)
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BYU
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Illinois
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South Carolina
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Syracuse
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Memphis
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Army
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Colorado
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UNLV
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Ohio
Cecil Joyce covers high school sports and MTSU athletics for The Daily News Journal. Contact him at cjoyce@dnj.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, @Cecil_Joyce.
This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: MTSU football’s Derek Mason had Indiana higher than Tennessee in poll
