Rooting against Brian Kelly actually had a pragmatic function for Notre Dame fans inclined to do so on Sunday night.
It all indirectly figures into the poll perception of Kelly’s successor with the Irish, third-year head coach Marcus Freeman and his now-fifth-ranked Irish, who took care of their own business as the preseason No. 7 team in the Associated Press Top 25, Saturday night in College Station, Texas
Tuesday’s ranking update, delayed by college football’s elongated Labor Day weekend slate, reflected how the 62 media members who make up the AP’s voting panel perceived a gritty 23-13 subduing of then-No. 23 Texas A&M on Saturday night.
Also reflected in the Irish poll position is the context on how everyone else opened the season — and that’s where Kelly and his current team, LSU, figures in.
Related Content
► Notre Dame football depth chart projection for home opener vs. N. Illinois
► Notre Dame football injury report: Jordan Faison will miss N. Illinois game
► Notre Dame rises to No. 5 in new AP poll, starts strength-of-schedule watch
► Snap Counts: Here's who played for Notre Dame football against Texas A&M
► Notre Dame OC Mike Denbrock transcript heading into Northern Illinois game
USC, which knocked off the Tigers 27-20 in Las Vegas on Sunday night, is currently Notre Dame’s highest-ranked opponent at No. 13. And only one of three at the moment on the ND schedule, with Louisville debuting at No. 22 and Georgia Tech at No. 24.
Texas A&M dropped out, as did preseason No. 10 Florida State — following upset losses to Georgia Tech on Aug. 24 in Ireland (24-21) and Boston College in Tallahassee (28-13) on Monday night. Perhaps the Seminoles, suing to get out of their ACC membership, could file legal action for inclusion in the Top 25.
Georgia remained No. 1, followed by Ohio State, Texas and Alabama.
In the coaches poll, Notre Dame held at No. 7, one polling point below No. 6 Oregon, which survived a scare from Idaho, 24-14, over the weekend. Meanwhile, the Irish moved up three spots to No. 5 in the FWAA-NFF Super 16 poll.
The bottom line is that strength of schedule will play into Notre Dame’s perception, which will ultimately affect its seeding in the new 12-team version of the College Football Playoff, should the Irish remain in a playoff trajectory.
Their next opportunity to fortify their own case comes Saturday at home against Northern Illinois (1-0). Kickoff is 3:30 p.m. EDT on NBC/Peacock. The Huskies, 54-15 pummelers of FCS team Western Illinois this past weekend, were picked to finish in a tie for third in the Mid-American Conference.
Miami (Ohio), ND’s Sept. 21 home opponent, was the MAC preseason favorite.
Outside of the team the Irish played and beat, Texas A&M, Notre Dame’s other 11 regular-season opponents went a collective 9-4 ahead of Tuesday’s AP poll drop, with Georgia Tech (2-0) and FSU (0-2) each having played two games since the preseason poll came out.
How/if Texas A&M (0-1) rebounds will be another important perceptual piece for the Irish. The Aggies face FCS team McNeese State (1-1) at home on Saturday. With divisions abolished in the SEC, annual bouts for the Aggies with Alabama and Ole Miss are off the A&M schedule.
The Aggies, the top vote-getter among unranked teams, do have some challenges, though,. But the three toughest are all at home — against No. 9 Missouri (Oct. 5), Kelly’s No. 18 LSU team (Oct. 26), and its reunion of the Texas rivalry on (Nov. 30).
USC (1-0), meanwhile, shows up on the Irish schedule when the Irish need some octane in theirs, as other teams they may be competing with for a playoff spot and/or seeding are likely to be facing the tougher parts of their respective schedules.
Notre Dame opens November with a bye, and follows the Nov. 9 FSU matchup with Virginia, Army and USC.
Notre Dame plays the Trojans on the road in the regular-season finale on Nov. 30. USC’s next big test comes Sept. 21 at defending national champ and No. 10 Michigan (1-0). That follows a home game with Utah State this weekend and a bye week the next.
The first set of College Football Playoff rankings won’t come out until Nov. 5, four days before the Irish host Florida State in game 9 of ND’s season. The final CFP rankings as well as the playoff pairings will drop on Dec. 8.
• Talk with Notre Dame fans on The Insider Lounge.
• Subscribe to the Inside ND Sports podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, SoundCloud, Podbean or Pocket Casts.
• Subscribe to the Inside ND Sports channel on YouTube.
• Follow us on Twitter: @insideNDsports, @EHansenND and @TJamesND.
• Like us on Facebook: Inside ND Sports
• Follow us on Instagram: @insideNDsports
