Notre Dame Falls To No. 4 In Associated Press Poll
After moving up to No. 3 last week event though it struggled at home to defeat unranked Louisville, 12-7, Notre Dame dropped one spot this week despite a dominant 45-3 victory in its 2020 road debut at upset-minded Pitt.
With the Big Ten opening its season this weekend, Ohio State's 52-17 victory over Nebraska led to the Buckeyes leaping the Fighting Irish for the No. 3 spot and having college football's "Big 3" that also features Clemson and Alabama in the top 3 spots.
Since the start of the College Football Playoff in 2014, LSU last year has been the only other school to capture the national title other than The Big 3.
Notre Dame’s (5-0, 4-0 ACC) 11-game winning streak, dating back to last Nov. 2, is the longest in the Football Bowl Subdivision. The 22 straight wins at home are second on the current chart to No. 1-ranked Clemson’s 26, and the 29 consecutive wins versus unranked foes — which tied the school record from 1990-94 — is also second currently to Alabama’s NCAA record 94, with the Crimson Tide’s last such defeat occurring in 2007.
Three other ACC teams are in the top 25: Clemson (No. 1), Miami (No. 12) and North Carolina (No. 13), while two from last week fell out when Virginia Tech (formerly No. 19) lost at Wake Forest and North Carolina State (formerly No. 23) was blown out by the Tar Heels.
The Irish host Clemson Nov. 7 and play at North Carolina Nov. 27, the Friday after Thanksgiving Day.
Here is the full top 25 and the schedule games for the Oct. 31 weekend:
1. Clemson (5-0) — Boston College
2. Alabama (4-0) — Mississippi State
3. Ohio State (1-0) — at No. 14 Penn State
4. Notre Dame (5-0) — at Georgia Tech
5. Georgia (3-1) — at Kentucky
6. Oklahoma State (4-0) —Texas
7. Cincinnati (4-0) — Memphis
8. Texas A&M (3-1) — Arkansas
9. Florida (2-1) — Missouri
10. BYU (6-0) — Western Kentucky
11. Wisconsin (1-0) — at Nebraska
12. Miami (5-1) — idle
13. North Carolina (4-1) — at Virginia
14. Michigan (1-0) — Michigan State
15. Oregon (0-0) — Opens Nov. 7 at home versus Stanford
16. Kansas State (4-1) — at West Virginia
17. Penn State (0-1) — No. 5 Ohio State
18. Marshall (5-0) —at Florida International
19. Indiana (1-0) — at Rutgers
20. USC (0-0) — Opens Nov. 7 at home versus Arizona State
21. Coastal Carolina (5-0) — Georgia State
22. Iowa State (3-2) — at Kansas
23. SMU (5-1) —Navy
24. Oklahoma (3-2) — at Texas Tech
25. Army (6-1) — idle
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