Notre Dame Football: Irish Ranked #7 in Coaches Poll and #9 in AP Top 25 Poll

Week 4 Top 25

Quick Hitter

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish moved up to #7 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and #9 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll after a 41-13 win Saturday against the Wisconsin Badgers. The Irish defense took another step forward and multiple players stepped up in all three phases. Losses by Clemson, Texas A&M, and an idle week by Cincinnati allowed the Irish to jump ahead in the rankings. This is a FUN season of college football and outside of Alabama/Georgia, everyone looks beatable. Even Alabama looks slightly fallible. The Irish are trending in the right direction with another big test coming on Saturday.

Notre Dame Opponent Rankings Quick Hits

• Cincinnati Bearcats: Moved to #8/#7. The Bearcats had an off week before heading to South Bend next week in what will be one the biggest games in program history. That is not an exaggeration as a win against a Top 10 team will pave a path for the playoffs for Cincinnati.
• Wisconsin Badgers: Dropped out of the Top 25. The Badgers slide to 1-2 on the year and have a ton to clean up on the offensive side of the ball. They can still rebound and hope to bounce back into the Top 25 with a huge matchup against the Michigan Wolverines this Saturday.
• North Carolina Tar Heels: Dropped out of the Top 25. Woooooof. The Tar Heels dropped out of the Top 25 after getting smoked by Georgia Tech. Georgia Tech is better than people give them credit for and are surging in the right direction.
• Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets: One to keep an eye on. Georgia Tech dismantled North Carolina and have a close loss to Clemson. I would not be surprised if they are ranked when they head to South Bend in November.

Next Up

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A Top 10 Matchup against the Bearcats. This game is going to be awesome and will have a little bit of everything. I’m curious if Jack Coan will be healthy or if we will see Steph Curry, I mean Drew Pyne (peek the mouthguard) lead the Irish.