Franklin, Narduzzi diss each other with mutually petty poll votes

ALTOONA, Pa. -- The Pitt-Penn State rivalry is the gift that keeps on giving, for so, so many reasons.

This time, it's the final coaches poll of the season, where James Franklin and Pat Narduzzi both decided to toss some shade at their fellow in-state program.

Penn State finished No. 7 in the coaches poll Wednesday, while Pitt is No. 22, the same spots for both as in the final Associated Press poll a day earlier.

But more interesting than where the Nittany Lions and Panthers ended up is where their coaches ranked the other team.

Franklin didn't rank Pitt at all. Nowhere on his ballot. Which is, well, comical really, particularly considering he ranked UCLA at No. 21. Pitt played without multiple starters and still beat UCLA in the Sun Bowl, and both teams finished 9-4. But Franklin included the Bruins on his ballot and not the Panthers.

Franklin wasn't the only coach who didn't have Pitt on his ballot, as there were more than a dozen others.

Narduzzi dissed Penn State by ranking the Lions at No. 9, lower than any other coach in the poll. A few other coaches had Penn State at No. 8, but Narduzzi was the only one who had the Lions at 9.

Here's a look at all the coaches' votes.

There's obviously no love lost between Penn State and Pitt, and the teams' coaches have traded verbal barbs on occasion in the past. So, considering that, it shouldn't be much of a surprise that Franklin and Narduzzi would take this petty step of lowballing the other in the polls.

Still, you'd think these coaches would try to submit honest ballots, or at least as honest as they can, without holding any personal grudges in their votes.

Nope. It just doesn't work that way, apparently.

Whose slight was more egregious in your opinion? Post in the comments.