Notre Dame & The Associated Press Final Top 25 Numbers
In the 20 football seasons from 1997-2016, Notre Dame has not finished in the final AP Top 25 on 12 occasions: 1997 (7-6), 1999 (5-7), 2001 (5-7), 2003 (5-7), 2004 (6-6), 2007 (3-9), 2008 (7-6), 2009 (6-6), 2010 (8-5), 2011 (8-5), 2014 (8-5) and now 2016 (4-8).
Perhaps more distressing is that seven of them have been in the past 10 years. Fortunately, the glass-is-half-full side can counter that those three Top 25 finishes did occur in the last five seasons.
Yet way too often when the Fighting Irish are not ranked high in the preseason, if at all, a response often heard is “they don’t get enough love” or there is a “media bias.” Notre Dame, which opened this season ranked No. 10, actually has begun a season unranked only twice since head coach Brian Kelly was hired.
The first was his debut season in 2010 — after the Irish were 16-21 the three previous seasons under predecessor Charlie Weis.
The second was 2012, before it finished the regular season 12-0 and No. 1.
Four Finishers In Top 25
There were four 2016 Notre Dame opponents that finished in final Associated Press poll: USC (3), Stanford (12), Virginia Tech (16) and Miami (20).
This generally has been the average for the Fighting Irish over the years during a 13-game schedule (when including bowls).
There also were four in 2015 — although three of them finished in the top 4 (Clemson, Stanford and Ohio State) — 2014 and 2012, and five in 2013.
Overall under Kelly the past seven years, Notre Dame is 9-20 versus opponents that placed in the Final AP Top 25, with the breakdown as follows:
• 0-3 in 2010
• 1-4 in 2011
• 3-1 in 2012
• 3-2 in 2013
• 0-4 in 2014
• 1-3 in 2015
• 1-3 in 2016
Miami The Top Victim
In Kelly’s seven seasons at Notre Dame, the Hurricanes became only the ninth team the Irish vanquished that finished in the AP Top 25, and the second in the past three. Here is the list:
2010: None
2011: Michigan State (11)
2012: Stanford (7), Oklahoma (15) and Michigan (24)
2013: Michigan State (3), USC (19) and Arizona State (21)
2014: None
2015: Navy (18)
2016: Miami (20)
Defeating only two Top-25 finishers the past three years is something that needs to be compensated for appreciably in 2017 if Notre Dame is going to be classified in a higher level, or taken more seriously.
Top 10 Finishes
Notre Dame has finished in the AP Top 10 only twice (2005 and 2012) in the past 23 seasons.
Excluding Knute Rockne’s (1918-30) tenure — because he never coached during the AP poll era that began in 1936 — Kelly is tied with Charlie Weis for seventh place among Notre Dame coaches with AP Top-10 finishes (one apiece), which is why the standards at the school remain so high.
• In 11 seasons, both Frank Leahy (1941-43, and 1946-53) and Ara Parseghian (1964-74) had nine Top-10 placements to set the standard.
Leahy won consensus national titles in 1943-46-47-49, finished the runner-up in 1948 and 1953, and No. 3 in 1952.
Parseghian’s reign was highlighted by consensus national titles in 1966 and 1973. He also was No. 2 in 1970 and No. 3 in 1964.
• Also in 11 seasons, Lou Holtz (1986-96) had five Top-10 finishes, most notably No. 1 in 1988 and near misses with the runner-up slot in 1989 and 1993.
• Tied for fourth place with three apiece are the trio of Elmer Layden (1934-40), Terry Brennan (1954-58) and Dan Devine (1975-80), none of whom coached more than six years in the AP poll era. Had the poll begun in 1935, Layden’s 7-1-1 Irish also would have finished in the Top 10 to give him four.
It just goes to show how demanding this job can be. Layden left after seven years despite a .770 winning percentage (higher than both Holtz and Devine); Brennan was fired after five seasons; Devine, whose 1977 team finished No. 1, stepped down after six campaigns amidst incessant complaints that he was not Parseghian.
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