Notre Dame Football: Irish creep up the rankings after another cheeseburger week

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish should be well rested this week after its second bye week over the last 4 weeks. There’s still a taste of bitter disappointment in our mouths after the loss to the Clemson Tigers, but that didn’t seem to affect the pollsters this week.

The Irish climbed two spots in the AP Top 25 to #20 and for spots in the Coaches Poll to #18.

The only Notre Dame opponents that are currently ranked are both inside the top 10 — but are also both Notre Dame losses. The Ohio State Buckeyes are ranked #3/#3 and the Louisville Cardinals are ranked #9/#9 (thanks to surviving a tight one against the Virginia Cavaliers).

Upsets against the top 15 have been minimal this year and the Irish are firmly behind a large handful of one-loss and two-loss teams. The last real remaining BIG goal for Notre Dame is a 10-3 finish. Technically, Notre Dame could still finish inside the top 10 after the bowl season, but that’s going to take a confluence of events that we just haven’t seen much of this year around the country.