Notre Dame Football: Irish ranked #2 in both AP Top 25 and Coaches Poll for 6th straight week

For the sixth straight week, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are ranked #2 in both the AP Top 25 and Coaches Poll.

While there is clear separation between Notre Dame and the #1 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide in terms of points, the Irish still have two #1 votes in the coaches poll (how much do you want to bet they are from Brian Kelly and Dabo Swinney?).

The North Carolina Tar Heels, the biggest data point for Notre Dame in the upcoming college football playoff rankings other than the Clemson Tigers, rose to #16 and #15 after stomping an absolute hole in the butts of the #10 Miami Hurricanes on Saturday. A couple of fun things to remember about that:

• Remember Miami fans talking smack about Notre Dame being in the ACC Championship game? Yeah... they got their answer and our messenger was Mack Brown.
• North Carolina was already ranked higher in the playoff rankings, and may rise to 12th on Tuesday.

Of course, the upset win the LSU Tigers got over the shoe-throwing Florida Gators — as well as the Miami trouncing — means Notre Dame is basically guaranteed an earned playoff spot regardless of the outcome against Clemson in the ACC Championship game.

It’s why the number of games is IMPORTANT. Neither the Ohio State Buckeyes or the USC Trojans should be considered for the playoff.