For the ninth time in 12 seasons under Brian Kelly, Notre Dame will start a football season with a number next to their name as the Irish checked in ninth in the preseason AP poll.
It’s been well documented that Notre Dame loses a lot from last year’s squad that went 10-0 to start the year before being beat up by both Clemson and Alabama to close the year.
So if the Irish are supposed to sink like a brick due to these losses, then why are they rated as high in the preseason AP Poll as they’ve ever been in Kelly’s now dozen seasons on the job?
Here is how Notre Dame has started each year in the AP Poll since Kelly was hired before the 2010 season: