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Where Notre Dame football ranks in Week 16 Associated Press Poll

IMG_9992by:Tyler Horka•12/08/24•

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Marcus Freeman pointing
Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman. (Mike Miller/Blue & Gold)

Notre Dame has its highest Associated Press Poll ranking of the Marcus Freeman era. Following conference championship weekend, the Fighting Irish (11-1) are ranked No. 3.

The Irish, of course, did not participate in a conference championship being that they are independent. But with Texas losing to Georgia and Penn State losing to Oregon, Notre Dame moved up from No. 4 to No. 3. Georgia jumped the Irish — the Bulldogs, SEC champions, are ranked No. 2 behind No. 1 Oregon.

The College Football Playoff rankings will be revealed just after noon ET. Using the AP Poll as a mock bracket predictor of sorts, the Irish would be the No. 5 seed in the playoff hosting No. 12 Clemson in South Bend in the first round. The Tigers (10-3) beat SMU in the ACC title game.

The 5 seed is the highest Notre Dame can be ranked being that the Irish cannot get a first-round bye reserved for the four highest-ranked conference champions, so it would be mission accomplished for Freeman and Co. on that front. Going into every season in the 12-team playoff format, it’s Notre Dame’s goal to get seeded fifth. And that’s right where it would be based on the AP Poll.

The Irish only have one win over a team currently ranked in the AP Top 25 despite technically having wins over four teams that were ranked at the time of kickoff this season. The Irish beat No. 19 Army (11-1) by a score of 49-14 at Yankee Stadium on Nov. 23. They also beat Texas A&M, Louisville and Navy when those teams were ranked.

Even without the strongest of résumés, one that includes a home loss to Northern Illinois, the Irish handled their business ever since being defeated by NIU in Week 2 and are ending up being rewarded in the rankings. The only thing better than an 11-1 record is a perfect 12-0. Even if that’s what the Irish were, they’d still be ranked No. 2 in the AP Poll and would be in line for the fifth seed in the playoff bracket.

We’ll see if the CFP committee agrees with the AP shortly.

Week 15 College Football AP Top 25

1. Oregon (13-0)
2. Georgia (11-2)
3. Notre Dame (11-1)
4. Texas (11-2)
5. Penn State (11-2)

6. Ohio State (10-2)
7. Tennessee (10-2)
8. Boise State (11-1)
9. Indiana (11-1)
10. Arizona State (11-2)

11. Alabama (9-3)
12. SMU (11-2)
13. Clemson (10-3)
14. South Carolina (9-3)
15. Miami (10-2)

16. Ole Miss (9-3)
17. BYU (10-2)
18. Iowa State (10-3)
19. Army (11-1)
20. Colorado (9-3)

21. Illinois (9-3)
22. Syracuse (9-3)
23. Missouri (9-3)
24. UNLV (10-3)
25. Memphis (10-2)

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