Urban Meyer, Jimbo Fisher earn big bonuses after final poll

Ohio State coach Urban Meyer and Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher weren't part of Monday night's action during the Bowl Championship Series national game. Afterward, however, things heated up for them as voters in the Associated Press media poll determined their final Top 25 rankings of the season.

When all the ballots had been counted, Ohio State was No. 3, Florida State was No. 10 – and Meyer and Fisher were a little wealthier than had been Monday afternoon because their team's rankings triggered incentive provisions of their contracts.

Meyer will get $150,000 for the Buckeyes' top-10 finish, which was assured by their 12-0 regular season record -- and by a late-season adjustment in the language of Meyer's contract.

They had the No. 3 ranking going into bowl season and did not play in a bowl game because of NCAA sanctions. The question for Meyer going into Monday night's title game was whether the outcome might result in Ohio State moving up to No. 2, which would have given him another $100,000.

However, after Alabama's blowout of Notre Dame, the AP's voters moved previously No. 5 Oregon into the No. 2 spot, left Ohio State unchanged and dropped the Fighting Irish to No. 4.

Fisher will get $50,000 for the Seminoles' top-10 finish, which was a product of their 31-10 rout of Northern Illinois in the Orange Bowl and bowl-game losses by Kansas State, LSU and Oklahoma.

The Seminoles entered bowl season No. 13 in the AP rankings. Kansas State was No. 7 but lost to Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl, 35-17; LSU was No. 9 but lost to Clemson in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl, 25-24 and Oklahoma was No. 12 but lost to Texas A&M in the Cotton Bowl, 41-13. (Fisher would have gotten an additional $50,000 had the Seminoles finished in the AP's top five.)