Notre Dame Opens No. 10 In Preseason AP Poll
On Monday afternoon the Associated Press gave Notre Dame its second-highest preseason ranking in head coach Brian Kelly’s 11 seasons. The Fighting Irish check in at No. 10, one spot below the loftiest perch at No. 9 last preseason under Kelly.
Oddly, though, the AP included Ohio State (No. 2), Penn State (No. 7) and Oregon (No. 9) ahead of Notre Dame even though both the Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences have cancelled their fall sports seasons because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and hope to play football in the spring.
Two other slated 2020 Notre Dame opponents that had their fall seasons cancelled are No. 12 Wisconsin and No. 17 USC. Consequently, in addition to No. 1 Clemson, who the Irish host Nov. 7, the only other Notre Dame foe in the AP top 25 is No. 18 North Carolina, where Notre Dame will play on Friday, Nov. 27.
Clemson has been to the College Football Playoff five straight years, winning the national title in 2016 and 2018, and the Tigers were the runner-up last year to LSU and in 2015 to Alabama.
Since its most recent “Golden Age” from 1988-93 when it was 64-9-1 (.872 winning percentage), including 5-1 in major bowls, a national title and two No. 2 finishes, Notre Dame football has not been quite the same, and it can be partly reflected in the AP poll.
In the 26 football seasons from 1994-2019, Notre Dame was ranked 17 times in the AP preseason top 25 — and the lone year where it finished higher (No. 5) than where it started was in 2018, when it began the year No. 12 and finished No. 5 after a 30-3 loss to Clemson in the College Football Playoff.
Conversely, in the nine other seasons the Fighting Irish were not ranked in the AP preseason top 25 from 1994-2017, they finished in the final rankings five times — including the top 10 in both 2012 (No. 4) and 2005 (No. 9). Those two seasons plus 2018 mark the last three times since 1994 Notre Dame concluded the campaign amongst the top 10.
Here have been the preseason AP rankings in Kelly’s previous 10 seasons:
2010: Unranked
Finished 8-5 and unranked.
2011: No. 16
Finished 8-5 and unranked.
2012: Unranked
Finished 12-1 and No. 4 (the highest since No. 2 in 1993)
2013: No. 14
Finished 9-4 and No. 20.
2014: No. 17
Finished 8-5 and unranked.
2015: No. 11
Finished 10-3 and No. 11
2016: No. 10
Finished 4-8 and unranked
2017: No. 28
Finished 10-3 and No. 11
2018: No. 12
Finished 12-1 and No. 5
2019: No. 9
Finished 11-2 and No. 12
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