Notre Dame Moves Up To #7 in AP Poll
After the dust settled on a wild Saturday of college football, Notre Dame moved up two spots in the latest AP Poll to #7 in the country. The highest ranking for the Irish since taking a 6th place ranking into the Coliseum on Thanksgiving weekend.
The #’s 3, 4, and 5 teams in the country all lost this weekend when #3 Florida State was upset by NC State, LSU was upended by #10 Florida, and #5 Georgia got knocked off by #6 South Carolina. All three teams were ranked ahead of Notre Dame going into the weekend, but Notre Dame’s 41-3 throttling of Miami was only enough to move up two spots with Florida jumping the Irish after their impressive win over LSU.
Ahead of the Irish at this point are: Alabama, Oregon, South Carolina, Florida, West Virginia, and Kansas State. There are some interesting match-ups for these teams next weekend with Alabama facing Missouri and West Virginia taking on Texas Tech, but the best chance for the Irish to move in the polls if they get passed Stanford this weekend would be a LSU upset of 3rd ranked South Carolina.
As is, the Irish have made a meteoric rise up the polls this season after starting the season unranked and just outside the top 25. After six weeks Notre Dame has moved up 19 spots for their highest ranking under head Brian Kelly. Prior to this season, the highest the Irish made it in the polls was #16 to start the 2011 season – a ranking that lasted just a week after the Irish were upset by South Florida to start the ’11 season.
Notre Dame is still ranked higher than any of its opponents although after a rough start to the season, Irish foes had a strong week in the polls. USC, Oklahoma, and Stanford all suffered upset losses in the first few weeks of the season, but all won this weekend to move with USC coming in at 11th, Oklahoma 13th and Stanford 17th.
Michigan, meanwhile, snuck its way back into the polls at #25 after making short order of Purdue and Michigan State found itself just outside the top 25 in the “others receiving votes” section.
Frank Vitovitch has been Co-Owner and Editor in Chief of UHND.com since joining forces with Kyle Flavin in 1999. Since that time, he has written over 2,000 articles covering Notre Dame football, recruiting, and basketball. He also works with all staff and external writers on all articles published on UHND.com. Frank's love for Notre Dame football started at a young age watching Rocket Ismail give opposing coaches ulcers in the late 1980's. By day Frank works in marketing and holds a degree in Digital Media from Drexel University. Frank's work has been cited by online/print editions of NBC Sports, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and has been quoted on air by ESPN's Collin Cowherd. He's conducted interviews with Notre Dame legends Rocket Ismail, Randy Kinder, Lee Becton, Reggie Brooks, Michael Stonebreaker, and Ned Bolcar among others over his 20+ years of covering Notre Dame football. He's also been published in the print edition of USA Today Sports Weekly and the USA Today College Football Preview multiple times. Other Published Works/Citations for Frank Three Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Alabama - USA Today Notre Dame Suspends WR Kevin Stepherson, RB C.J. Holmes Indefinitely - Bleacher Report Notre Dame / Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Preview - Eleven Warriors Brace Yourself: The Fighting Irish are Relevant Again - Sports on Earth Interviews with the Enemy: A Q&A with Frank Vitovitch of UHND - Yahoo! Sports Five Good Minutes: Notre Dame Football Preview With UHND.com - BC Interruption Vicious Electronic Questioning with UHND - MGO Blog
notre dame has been lacking good defensive players in the past, but now they have recuited some of the best players in the country. if they continue to recuit good defensive players, they will only continue to be better in the future. good luck for the remaining season.the running game also seems to have gotten better. thanks to the offensive line and qb.
Notre Dame 41…Miami 3. Chicago Bearssss 41….Jacksonville 3. Coincidence? Even Da’ Mare has to be surprised. A couple two tree more wins and we’re in da’ pitcher fer a national champin’ship. Deeetka!