He gives “almosts” to Alabama, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Clemson and SMU.
Regular readers will know that [autotag]Danny Kanell’s[/autotag] Top 12 list is usually shared here, too, but unless your author missed something, it appears Kanell didn’t create one now that the 12-team College Football Playoff field is set.
Nov 30, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Jadarian Price (24) scores on a 36-yard touchdown run against the Southern California Trojans in the second half at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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Kanell’s top 12 is Oregon, Texas, Penn State, Georgia, SMU, Notre Dame, Tennesee, Ohio State, Indiana, Arizona State, Boise State and South Carolina.
Klatt does say the Irish are definitely in for the College Football Playoff.
Nov 30, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish leprechaun mascot and cheerleaders during the game against the Southern California Trojans at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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Notre Dame doesn’t move up as much with the experts as it does with the AP.
While Notre Dame is now No. 5 in the AP Top 25 poll after beating Army 49-14 at Yankee Stadium on Saturday, neither [autotag]Danny Kanell[/autotag] or [autotag]Joel Klatt[/autotag] were willing to rank the Fighting Irish that high.
Kanell has them at No. 7 in his top 12 and Klatt at No. 6 in his top 10.
Klatt’s top 10 are: Oregon, Ohio State, Texas, Penn State, Georgia, Notre Dame, Tennessee, Miami (Fl), Indiana, and SMU with “almost” nods going to Boise State, Clemson and Tulane.
Nov 23, 2024; New York, New York, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish running back Jadarian Price (24) breaks a tackle by Army Black Knights cornerback Donavon Platt (28) for a touchdown during the first half at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
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Notre Dame may have slipped a little in the AP Top 25 poll, but [autotag]Danny Kanell[/autotag] and [autotag]Joel Klatt[/autotag] have the Fighting Irish back on their radar.
Kanell has the Irish back in his top 10 while Klatt has them getting an “almost” vote.
Kanell actually lists his top 12 teams and the Fighting Irish are number 10. His top five is Oregon, Miami (Florida), Indiana, BYU and Ohio State. Following are Georgia, SMU, Texas, Penn State, Notre Dame, Tennessee and Boise State.
Klatt has his top 10 as Oregon, Ohio State, Georgia, Texas, Miami (Florida), Indiana, Tennessee, Penn State, Alabama and BYU. Notre Dame and Boise State get “almost” votes.
So while it might be frustrating for Irish fans to see Notre Dame slip two spots in the AP poll without playing, it appears there’s a consensus among the experts that the Fighting Irish are, at present, right around number 10 in the rankings.
Oct 26, 2024; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish safety Rod Heard II (2) celebrates after recovering a fumble during the second half against the Navy Midshipmen at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
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The pundits apparently still need to see more from Notre Dame.
Notre Dame still hasn’t cracked the top team lists for either Joel Klatt or Danny Kanell despite beating the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 31-13 on Saturday.
Klatt does have the Fighting Irish as an “almost” but they are still outside of his top 10.
Kannell, meanwhile, has his top 12 as: Oregon, Penn State, Miami, Indiana, Georgia, Ohio State, Clemson, Iowa State, BYU, Pitt, Texas and SMU. No honorable mention for Notre Dame.
This, plus the fact that the Irish saw no change in the AP Top 25 poll, may feel like disrespect towards a 6-1 Irish squad, but the loss to Northern Illinois still stings — and more importantly, most of Notre Dame’s opponents this season haven’t been particularly challenging.
Oct 19, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish offensive lineman Pat Coogan (78) in action against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
We’ll see how things go for the Irish against a ranked Navy team next Saturday. Perhaps a win in that contest will give ND a big boost.
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We’re starting to sound like a broken record, but once again, two top college football experts have kept Notre Dame off of their top 10 lists.
Although one does have the Fighting Irish in the “almost” category.
Once again, we blame the continuing fallout from the Northern Illinois game, though at this point it’s less about that loss than the perception that Notre Dame has only played one quality opponent — Louisville — since.
The schedule is the schedule, though, and while it probably is weaker in 2024 than Irish fans are used to seeing, Notre Dame can only play the team in front of it. Next week it faces a frisky but not unbeatable Georgia Tech team in a neutral-site game that’s in the Yellow Jacket’s backyard.
Florida State was once considered tough, but that team is a mess. Army and Navy are both undefeated to this point but few expect either team to beat the Irish. Even if it wins out, Notre Dame may still be overlooked until it faces USC at season’s end — and even then, the Irish will need a victory over the Trojans.
Joel Klatt did put the Irish as an “almost” in his Top 10 before giving the top five to Texas, Oregon, Ohio State, Georgia and Penn State. Danny Kannell, meanwhile, doesn’t have the Irish in his Top 12. He doesn’t list honorable mentions.
Kannell’s top five are Texas, Oregon, Penn State, Miami (Florida) and BYU.
For reference, the Irish are No. 12 in the AP poll.
Notre Dame will need to keep stacking wins — and ones that look like the blowout over Stanford, if possible — to get more respect. Perhaps some other teams need to lose, as well.
Notre Dame linebacker Drayk Bowen (34) tackles Stanford running back Chris Davis Jr. (5) during a NCAA college football game between Notre Dame and Stanford at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, in South Bend.
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Notre Dame didn’t benefit much from upsets, at least not in the experts’ eyes.
One might think that with Alabama, Tennessee, Missouri, USC and Michigan losing all on the same Saturday, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish might get a bit more love from pundits even though the Irish were idle.
That’s not quite how things have shaken out, despite Notre Dame moving up in the AP Top 25 poll.
Joel Klatt does give the Irish the “almost” treatment, but he still leaves them outside his Top 10. Danny Kannell still has Notre Dame outside of his Top 12.
Klatt goes Texas, Ohio State, Georgia, Oregon and Penn State with his top five. Kannell has his top five as Texas, Ohio State, Miami, Oregon and Penn State.
Perhaps the Irish would’ve been placed higher on these folks’ lists if they’d played and won on Saturday. Either way, the rash of upsets is probably good news for Notre Dame — assuming the Irish don’t fall victim to another upset of their own.
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Notre Dame still isn’t getting much love post-NIU.
One might think that Notre Dame beating Louisville, and looking generally much better while doing it, would be enough to vault the Fighting Irish into certain experts’ top 10 rankings.
Perhaps Notre Dame fans shouldn’t be too surprised. It’s going to be an uphill climb after the Week 2 failure against Northern Illinois, and the Irish’s schedule is considered less challenging than usual.
That said, if the Irish continue to win and play well, perhaps they’ll be back on the pundits’ radar.
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The experts still need to see more from Notre Dame.
Maybe it was the slow start. Maybe there’s still fallout from losing to Northern Illinois. Whatever the reason, neither Danny Kannell or Joel Klatt have the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in their rankings.
Klatt doesn’t have the Irish in his top 10 and Kannell doesn’t have them in his top 12. Klatt doesn’t have the Irish as an honorable mention, either.
Notre Dame is still feeling the effects of losing to NIU, and a slow and sloppy start against Miami of Ohio probably didn’t help. Blowing out Purdue probably means little because Purdue isn’t expected to compete for much this year.
If Notre Dame beats Louisville at home, the Irish might get more love. Especially if they play well or deliver a decisive win instead of squeaking by.
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The Fighting Irish remain outside the experts’ top 10. It will likely stay this way until the Irish face Louisville in South Bend.
While the AP has Notre Dame at No. 18 in the Top 25 poll and the USA Today/coaches poll has the Fighting Irish at the same spot, other experts didn’t give the Irish much credit for beating the brakes off the Purdue Boilermakers 66-7 on Saturday.
As with the AP and coaches poll, there are likely a few factors at play. There were no major upsets — though there were a couple of close calls. The Irish were expected to beat Purdue. Notre Dame hasn’t yet faced a true test since the shocking loss to Northern Illinois. Sure, there was concern the Irish might have a hangover after the loss to the Huskies, but it’s unlikely that Notre Dame will face an on-field test until Louisville comes to town in two weeks.
Danny Kannell has the Irish out of his top 12, with the top five being Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, Miami and Alabama. CFB Kings has the Irish in the No. 22 spot and a top five of Georgia, Texas, Ohio State, Ole Miss and Miami. Meanwhile, Joel Klatt has the Irish outside his top 10, with a top five of Texas, Ohio State, Miami, Tennessee and Georgia.
It will probably take a fairly decisive win over Louisville for Notre Dame to climb back up the rankings, unless other teams get upset. It also goes without saying that the Irish will need to win at home — and probably win by a comfortable margin, at a minimum — over Miami of Ohio, as well.
CFBKings Top 25 • Week 4:
1. Georgia
2. Texas
3. Ohio State
4. Ole Miss
5. Miami
6. Alabama
7. Tennessee
8. Missouri
9. Oregon
10. Penn State
11. USC
12. OK State
13. Oklahoma
14. Kansas State
15. Clemson
16. Louisville
17. Utah
18. LSU
19. Syracuse
20. Northern Illinois
21.…
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