Notre Dame Football: First Coaches Poll Ranks Irish 29th

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish will open the 2017 season unranked in the Amway/USA Today Coaches’ Poll, a first since Brian Kelly’s first year.

The Irish, who are coming off a 4-8 season, received 49 points and finished tied with the Boise State Broncos for 29th place in the first poll. The Irish will play four Top 25 opponents this year, including the fourth-ranked USC Trojans, the 14th-ranked Stanford Cardinal, the 15th ranked Georgia Bulldogs and the 18th ranked Miami-Florida Hurricanes.

Other Irish opponents received votes from the panel of 65 FBS head coaches, including the N.C. State Wolfpack (39 points, #32 overall); Temple Owls and North Carolina Tar Heels (8 points each, tied for #45 overall) and Michigan State Spartans (1 point, tied for #56 overall).

Kelly is not part of the Coaches’ Poll panel, but his peers at Michigan State, North Carolina State, North Carolina, USC and Navy are. Also included is first-year Western Kentucky Hilltoppers head coach Mike Sanford Jr., who was Notre Dame’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach last year.

The Top 5 of the Coaches poll includes the Alabama Crimson Tide, Ohio State Buckeyes, Florida State Seminoles, Clemson Tigers and the aforementioned Trojans.

The Irish open their season Sept. 2 against the Owls at Notre Dame Stadium.