Just as I thought was likely to occur when I looked at the polls two weeks ago, Notre Dame has benefited from the latest round of ranked teams falling, and is now ranked in both polls — #25, to be exact — heading into next week’s showdown with #5/6 USC (who somehow managed to leapfrog Boise State in the coaches poll, and gain significant ground on the Broncos in the AP poll, during a week when both teams were idle… go figure).
If Notre Dame beats USC, they’ll jump to something like #12 in both polls, and we’ll suddenly hear longshot national championship talk. If they lose, they won’t be heard from again in the rankings for the rest of the season, or at least until maybe late November, if they still have two losses at that point. The Trojans are presently listed as 10 1/2 point favorites, which sounds about right.
Fight on, Trojans! Beat the Irish!
Big-school bias rearing its ugly head again?
Told ya so.
I’m stunned.
It’s about time that — to borrow a Weisism from a few years back — Notre Dame could stay home and eat cheeseburgers and still wind up gaining sixty-some votes. It doesn’t normally work that way. But I guess AP voters didn’t see the Irish winning by the skin of their teeth leading off “SportsCenter” and, realizing they’d consistently taken ND down pegs after winning, didn’t do it this week. We looked more dominant against BYE than we had against anyone since Nevada.
I guess it didn’t hurt that Auburn, Ole Miss, Missouri and Wisconsin all lost, with the former two going down in rather embarrassing fashion. That said, I suspect that part of this is to assist the hype of the game — it wouldn’t mean as much if ND were unranked.
There’s no need to resort to conspiracy theories. Pollsters are really very simple creatures. Look at last week’s polls. Auburn, Mississippi and Missouri were ranked in the bottom half of the Top 25. They lost. Somebody was needed to replace them. Well… who were the “others receiving votes” in the AP poll last week?
Wisconsin 157, Houston 142, Georgia 115, Stanford 50, Utah 31, Michigan 25, Boston College 12, Notre Dame 9, Pittsburgh 3, Arizona 2, West Virginia 2
Wisconsin…lost.
Houston…now ranked #23.
Georgia…lost.
Stanford…lost.
Utah…now ranked #24.
Michigan…lost.
Boston College…lost.
Notre Dame…now ranked #25.
The new “others receiving votes” (behind Utah with 76 votes and ND with 75) are Pittsburgh 58, Auburn 55, West Virginia 46, Mississippi 28, Wisconsin 27, Missouri 25, Arkansas 16, Central Michigan 6, Arizona 5, Michigan 5, Oregon State 2, Navy 1, Idaho 1, Stanford 1, Texas Tech 1.
Which of those teams belong ahead of the Irish? Pitt (5-1), on the strength of its “impressive” 24-21 home win over…UConn? Auburn (5-1), coming off an embarrassingly lopsided loss to Arkansas? West Virginia (4-1), which hasn’t looked sharp all season? Ole Miss (3-2), fresh off being exposed…again? Wisconsin (5-1), which finally played someone real, and promptly lost? Missouri (4-1); same deal as Wisconsin? Arkansas (3-2)? Central Michigan (5-1), a MAC team for crissakes? I won’t go on… you get the point. (IDAHO?!?!?)
The Irish are #25 simply because the competition for that position isn’t very strong. Attrition is an amazing thing in college football. People tend to forget how fluid the rankings are from week to week. This is why I saw ND’s position two weeks ago and realized they, as a one-loss team with a bye week coming up, had a good chance to make it.
So when is the SC-ND game going to move back to its proper position near the end of the season?
I suppose you’re right, Brendan. But this is why I hate “slotting.” Auburn has an objectively better résumé than Notre Dame. The Irish’s best win was against Washington, who are 3-3 against what Sagarin rates the toughest schedule in the country (all six of their opponents are listed in the AP poll somewhere). Auburn beat West Virginia and Tennessee. Notre Dame’s loss was to a smoke-and-mirrors Michigan team; Auburn’s loss was to an Arkansas team that scores points in heaps.
Doc, the last time USC and Notre Dame played in South Bend in November was in 1959. The Irish and Trojans have played in South Bend in October a total of 24 times rom 1961-2007, which is twice as many as the 12 times they played in South Bend in November between 1931 and 1959. I think the rivalry is doing just fine. 🙂
Over rated! *clap clap clap*
Plenty of room on the Vandals bandwagon, folks.