Notre Dame Football: Irish Rise In AP & Coaches Polls

Ahead of their matchup with USC, the Irish rose three spots in both the Associate Press and Coaches Polls.

The Notre Dame football team is up to 16th and 13th respectively in the Coaches and Associated Press polls respectively. The Irish jumped three spots in each poll following their bye week.

The Trojans survived a scare from upset minded Utah on Saturday night, 28-27. USC overcame a 21-7 deficit at halftime to narrowly defeat the Utes. Utah Head Coach Kyle Willingham gambled and went for two points with 42 second left in the game but failed.

Notre Dame’s next opponent also rose in the polls. USC will enter Notre Dame Stadium ranked as the 10th and 11th team according to the Coaches and Associated Press polls. The Top 20 matchup gives the Irish another opportunity to prove that they are worthy of being among the nation’s best.

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If Notre Dame defeats USC on Saturday night, it would represent the biggest home victory in Brian Kelly’s tenure in South Bend. Since 2010, the Irish have defeated No. 15 Utah, No. 15 Michigan State, No. 17 Stanford, No. 18 Michigan State, No. 24 Michigan State, No. 14 Stanford, and No. 14 Georgia Tech. These were the rankings of the opponents at the time of the game. Some teams actually went on to finish higher in the polls. For example, Stanford (2012) and Michigan State (2013) finished their season ranked No. 6 and No. 3 respectively. The Irish have another big opportunity in the national spotlight.

USC is not the only opponent that ranks highly in the polls. Among previous opponents, Georgia (No. 3) and Michigan State (No. 19) ranked this week in the Coaches Poll. Miami (FL) (No. 7), NC State (No. 17) and Stanford (No. 22) also ranked in the Coaches Poll. The Naval Academy, who lost to Memphis, fell from the rankings.

Editor’s note: All of the games mentioned as major home victories were reflective of the Coaches Poll at the time of the game.

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