The Notre Dame football team did something none of the other top eight teams in both the AP or Coaches polls did this week — change positions in the polls.
And the Irish (7-3) moved up in both, despite sitting this Saturday out with their second bye week of the season.
Notre Dame tied Missouri and LSU for the biggest ascenders in this week’s Coaches poll, with each of those teams moving up four spots. The Irish are 18th heading into the 500th-ever game played at Notre Dame Stadium, Saturday against Wake Forest (4-6). Kickoff on Senior Day is 3:30 p.m. EST (NBC/Peacock).
ND moved up two to No. 20 in the AP poll and remains outside the top 16 in the FWAA-NFF Super 16. The Irish were 20th in last week’s College Football Playoff rankings, which gets its next refresh Tuesday night at an odd time — approximately 9 EST, between men’s college basketball games of the State Farm Champions Classic.
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The top eight teams in all three polls stayed Georgia at No. 1, followed by Michigan, Ohio State, Florida State, Washington, Oregon, Texas and Alabama. Louisville, which beat the Irish 33-20 on Oct. 7, moved into the Top 10 at No. 9.
Wake Forest is coming off a 26-6 home loss to NC State in which Demon Deacons coach Dave Clawson proclaimed after the game that the team’s offense was broken.
"We've got to figure out where we are at quarterback moving forward," he said after benching starter Mitch Griffis and finishing with backup Michael Kerns.
The offense Notre Dame starter Sam Hartman left is 93rd nationally out of 130 in rush offense, 86th in pass efficiency, 104th in total offense, 110th in scoring offense and 128th in sacks allowed.
NC State had three TDs on the board before Wake got its initial first down of the game. The Demon Deacons are one loss away from being eliminated from bowl eligibility for the first time in eight seasons.
AP and Coaches polls
FWAA-NFF Super 16
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