Notre Dame Finishes #11 In Final AP College Football Poll

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish started the 2017 season unranked, but did enough to end the season as the #11 team in the country according to the AP voters.

The Irish ended their season with a thrilling 21-17 Citrus Bowl win over the LSU Tigers to help them climb three spots in the final poll.

Notre Dame played seven teams that finished inside the top 25 this season:

• Georgia Bulldogs (2)
• USC Trojans (12)
• Stanford Cardinal (20)
• Miami-Florida Hurricanes (13)
• Michigan State Spartans (15)
• LSU Tigers (18)
• N.C. State Wolfpack (23)

Only the Georgia Bulldogs, a team that Notre Dame lost to at home 20-19, finished higher than the Irish in the final poll. The Bulldogs lost in an amazing national championship game to the Alabama Crimson Tide in overtime.

The Irish went 4-3 against those opponents in the top 25.

Notre Dame is only scheduled to face four opponents in 2018 that finished in the top 25 this season:

• Stanford Cardinal
• Virginia Tech Hokies
• USC Trojans
• Northwestern Wildcats

While this is the exact final ranking (and record) that Notre Dame ended the 2015 season with, it very much feels like they were a much better team this season. A November collapse certainly made sure that the Irish finished outside the top 10 once again.

Will Notre Dame finally put together a consecutive year of success in 2018? Notre Dame hasn't put together a string together of double digit win seasons since the 1991 (10-3), 1992 (10-1-1), and 1993 (11-1) seasons.