Notre Dame Jumps Back Into Top 10 After Michigan Win

It did not take long for Notre Dame to jump back into the top 10.  All it took was a win over rival Michigan to start the season and the Irish are right back into the top 10 checking in at #8 in both the AP and Coaches Polls.

Notre Dame began the season 12th in the AP and 11th in the Coaches Poll but spent just one week outside the top 10 before moving back in following its 24-17 win over #14 Michigan this past weekend.

Washington fell three sports to #9 following their week one road loss to Auburn.  The Huskies somewhat surprisingly stayed in the top 10 despite taking the loss to the Tigers thanks to a lack of other marquee games.

Michigan State fell four spots after ranking 11th, just ahead of the Irish entering the weekend, after nearly losing to Utah State.  Penn State’s overtime thriller over “powerhouse” Appalachian State amazingly didn’t prove too costly in the polls but did allow the Irish to move up.  The Nittany Lions fell three spots to #13 after almost pulling a Michigan against App State.

Miami was the fourth team Notre Dame moved ahead of.  The Hurricanes got waxed on Sunday night by LSU to the tune of 33-17 though it wasn’t as close as the score indicates.  They dropped all the way from 8th to 22nd.

Michigan meanwhile fell seven spots down to #21 after losing to the Irish this past weekend.  The Wolverines don’t face another ranked opponent until the middle of October so they have time to rebuild their resume after the Irish knocked their playoff hopes off the rails to start the season.

Notre Dame Opponents Move Up

Virginia Tech moved up 8 spots all the way to Notre Dame’s old #12 ranking following their easy win over Florida State last night.  The Hokes were the second biggest movers (in a positive way) this week with only LSU moving up more spots. Notre Dame will face the Hokies in week 6 on the road in Blacksburg.  Given both teams week one performances, that could end up being a HUGE game.

Week five opponent Stanford moved up a few spots and into the top 10 like the Irish following their 31-10 win over San Diego State.  The Cardinal were not overly impressive and Bryce Love was actually completely shut down by the Aztecs but thanks to the Big 10’s terrible weekend, the Cardinal moved up.  Stanford plays USC this weekend and Oregon in two weeks so where they end up ranked by the end of September is anyone’s guess right now.

Northwestern is just outside the top 25 currently in the “others receiving votes” category.