Notre Dame suffered its first loss of the season Saturday against Cincinnati. Naturally, the Fighting Irish (4-1) fell in both the Coaches and Associated Press polls.
Notre Dame checked in at No. 13 in the former and No. 14 in the latter. Before the loss to the Bearcats, Notre Dame was ranked No. 7 and No. 9, respectively.
Cincinnati, who beat a ranked Power Five opponent for the first time since 2009, moved up to No. 6 in the Coaches Poll and No. 5 in the AP poll.
The Irish do not have any ranked teams left on their schedule. None of the teams Notre Dame played in the first four weeks — Florida State, Toledo, Purdue and Wisconsin — are ranked, either. Those schools have combined for a record of 8-11 so far this season.
If the AP Poll extended far enough, this week's opponent, Virginia Tech, would be ranked No. 30. The Hokies received 13 votes in the most recent poll. Stanford, Notre Dame's final regular season opponent, would be ranked No. 31. The Cardinal received 11 votes.
Cincinnati's victory snapped Notre Dame's 26-game home winning streak. The Irish are on the road in Blacksburg, Va., this week before returning home for games against USC (3-2) on Oct. 23 and North Carolina (3-2) on Oct. 30. The Trojans and Tar Heels started the season firmly ranked in both polls but fell out quickly with two losses apiece.
Week 6 College Football AP Top 25
1. Alabama (53)*
2. Georgia (9)*
3. Iowa
4. Penn State
5. Cincinnati
6. Oklahoma
7. Ohio State
8. Oregon
9. Michigan
10. BYU
11. Michigan State
12. Oklahoma State
13. Arkansas
14. Notre Dame
15. Coastal Carolina
16. Kentucky
17. Ole Miss
18. Auburn
19. Wake Forest
20. Florida
21. Texas
22. Arizona State
23. North Carolina State
24. SMU
25. San Diego State
* First-place votes in parenthesis
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