Notre Dame seems invisible in latest AP and Coaches Polls

Notre Dame football didn’t move in the polls despite another blowout win.

It’s almost like Notre Dame football ceased to exist in the eyes of the pollsters following the loss to Michigan. The Irish have won four straight since the debacle in Ann Arbor — including three-straight blowouts — yet can’t seem to get an real movement in the polls.

We’ve seen a number of team leapfrog Notre Dame in recent weeks, while others have fallen below them. But when the dust settles each week, the Irish haven’t moved.

Hopefully that changes with the release of the College Football Playoff Top 25 rankings this evening.

The Irish are currently 16th in the CFP rankings. Looking around at what the teams close to them did this past weekend, it’s tough to tell what the committee will do with Notre Dame. Ideally, the Irish would jump a three-loss Auburn. The Tigers logged a blowout win, but it was against FCS Samford. Is that not the sort of thing that diminishes your “street cred” in the eyes of the playoff committee?

The only other loss ha could impact Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff rankings this week was Penn State falling to Ohio State, giving the Nittany Lions their second loss of the season. They now have losses to Minnesota and Ohio State. Notre Dame has losses to Georgia and Michigan.

Has Notre Dame been impressive enough in their recent wins to merit being a higher-ranked two-loss team than Penn State? You can make an argument on both sides. The problem is, i doesn’t seem like any of the pollsters — AP, Coaches, or CFP are willing to listen to it right now.

The Irish might as well be invisible to the pollsters. This is what it’s like to not have control of your own destiny in college football.