Marcus Freeman’s second season as Notre Dame’s head football coach will start with the program’s lowest preseason ranking — 13th — in the coaches poll since it started the 2017 season unranked.
The Irish were No. 5 to start Freeman’s inaugural season and finished the 2022 season 18th, with a 9-4 record. However, the Irish have outperformed their preseason ranking in the final polls in four out of the past six seasons.
Three of ND’s 2023 opponents landed in the top 10 — Ohio State at No. 4, USC at No. 6 and Clemson at No. 9. Four others received votes outside the top 25 — Pitt, NC State, Wake Forest and Duke.
Defending national champion Georgia is No. 1.
The poll purports to have a panel of 63 FBS coaches voting in it, and yet there were 66 first-place votes cast, so draw your own conclusions. Freeman is on the panel, but former Irish coach Brian Kelly — now at LSU — is not.
The panel is chosen by random draw, conference by conference plus independents, from a pool of coaches who have indicated to the American Football Coaches Association their willingness to participate.
The AP poll drops next Monday, Aug. 14, while the FWAA/NFF Super 16 releases its preseason poll on Aug. 15.
The Irish open the season against unranked Navy on Aug. 26 in Dublin, Ireland.
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